Abstract: Statistical analysis was made on the highly cited papers of 10 horticultural journals selected in A Guide to the Core Journals(the 2017 edition). Five hundred highly cited horticultural papers were determined by the selection methods of selecting papers with the top 50 citation frequencies. Among the highly cited papers of the 10 horticultural journals from 2009 to 2018, the publication years were mainly concentrated in 2009—2013; most of the highly cited papers were supported by funds, which were mainly at national, ministerial and provincial levels; authors of the highly cited papers were mainly distributed in 9 provinces and autonomous regions such as Beijing and Liaoning; the papers co-authored by 2-8 scholars accounted for 92.8%, in which those co-authored by 5 scholars were the majority, and most of the papers were cooperated by 2-3 institutions; and the authors were mainly scientific researchers with doctoral degrees and senior titles. Twenty-two papers cited more than 100 times were mainly published in four journals: Acta Horticulturae Sinica, China Vegetables, Journal of Fruit Science and Northern Horticulture. These papers were mainly from universities (20 papers), and nearly half (10 papers) were review papers. If the editors consciously organize influential authors to write a review with a topic, it will have a positive effect of improving the influence of the journals.

Key words: highly cited paper, core journal, horticulture, citation frequency, fund