An image forming method including forming an image of a toner including a wax on a recording medium; fixing the toner image using by an oil-less fixing device; and then forming an overcoat layer on the fixed toner image. When a portion of the fixed toner image having the heaviest toner weight is subjected to an ATR FT-IR analysis, a peak area ratio Ab/Aa falls in a range of 3.0 to 7.0 or a peak area ratio Ab′/Aa′ falls in a range of 0.004 to 0.014, wherein Aa represents the area of a peak present in a range of 2896 cm−1 to 2943 cm−1, Ab represents the area of a peak present in a range of 2946 cm−1 to 2979 cm−1, Aa′ represents the area of a peak present in a range of 791 cm−1 to 860 cm−1, and Ab′ represents the area of a peak present in a range of 2834 cm−1 to 2862 cm−1.