Objective To evaluate the academic status of 16 Chinese core orthopaedic journals from 2005 to 2007 in terms of general citation frequency, impact factors, allo-citation rate and specialty influence index. Methods On the basis of the normalized data published by Chinese S& T Journal Citation Reports (CJCR), the general citation frequency, impact factors, allo-citation rate and specialty influence index of the 16 Chinese core orthopaedic journals from 2005 to 2007 were ranked respectively and sta-tistically analyzed. Results In terms of the above 4 indicators, Chinese Journal of Orthopedics ranked the first, followed by Chinese Journal of Trauma and Chinese Journal of Reparative and Reconstructive Surgery. Considering its short history, our journal, Chinese Journal of Orthopedic Trauma, made a rapid progress in academic status. Conclusion Generally speaking, the 16 Chinese core orthopaedic journals enjoy a high academic quality and relatively significant impact.