Abstract: The highly cited papers published in ACTA EDULIS FUNGI (referred to as AEF hereinafter) from 2007 to 2016 were analyzed to provide insights into manuscript solicitation and core author selection. The research objective was analyzed by SPSS for differences of citation in type of article, first author affiliation, species of research object, and direction of research. Using the selection criteria described in method, 92 papers were designated as highly cited papers out of a total of 708 papers published in AEF from 2007 to 2016. Among these 92 papers, the host unit contributed 30 papers, accounting for 32.6% of all the highly cited papers. Reviews written by members in the editorial board had more citations than that of other reviews. In terms of species of research object, “edible fungi” accounted for the greatest proportion of all the 92 highly cited papers, and “Cordyceps militaris” had the greatest number of papers among all papers with a detailed specific research species. For the correlation of species and first author affiliation, researches on C.militaris, Volvaria volvacea, and Ganoderma Lucidum were relatively concentrated in a few affiliations. In terms of research direction, studies on mushroom cultivation and active ingredients from edible mushroom accounted for over 50% of all the 92 papers. Regardless of publication numbers, articles about analytical methods had relatively high average annual citations. For soliciting practice in future, more attentions should be paid to the editorial board member and affiliations with high citations. Editors should also keep tight focus on trends in research direction and arising new species with the potential to be highly cited in order to improve the overall citation of AEF and its impact factor.

Key words: Highly cited papers