OBJECTIVETo analyze the inherent quality of articles published in our journal enjoying high citation rate, and to explore strategies on improving impact of papers.

METHODSScientific papers published in Chinese Journal of Burns from February 2000 to December 2009, with citation rate equal to or higher than 20 times were collected for classification according to their publication year, publication form, subject distribution, regional and institutional distribution, frequency of authors appeared in those published papers, frequency of winning prizes, and sources of fund (national, ministerial, or provincial). Data were processed by Microsoft Excel software.

RESULTSAltogether 64 scientific papers with high citation rate were published from 2000 to 2006. Original articles and expert forum accounted for 55 (86.0%). Twenty-one articles of clinical study were cited frequently, among them one was cited for 79 times. Articles dealing with subjects with popular interest or cutting-edge problems were cited frequently. Most articles winning high citation rate were originated from institutions located in Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi'an, etc. Those scientific papers which were instructed by specialists, with high level foundation and won prizes were cited with high frequency. The top 20 articles were mainly cited by excellent doctoral dissertations and master theses originated from 11 institutions for higher education, and source journals of Chinese Scientific and Technical Papers and Citations Database.

CONCLUSIONSAuthors should emphasize subject planning in order to compose papers with high quality. The editorial board should make arrangements with influential specialists with related skills for their contributions based on subjects of popular interest concerning the cutting-edge problems of the specific specialty, and pay close attention to papers on clinical study and those with funding from high levels, to improve impact of the articles.