BackgroundThe number of citations a paper receives reflects its impact on the scientific community. We aimed to identify and explore the characteristics of the most cited papers on total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).MethodsWeb of Science Core Collection Expanded Science Citation Index (1900 to present) was searched and papers on TAPVC were reviewed. Articles were ranked by the number of citations and the 100 most cited papers were analyzed.ResultsThe 100 most cited papers were published between 1952 and 2018 with a mean number of citations of 52 (range 26 to 148). The 1990s was the most productive decade. All articles except one were written in English. The 100 most cited articles were published in 24 journals, led by Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (21 articles), followed by Annals of Thoracic Surgery (20 articles), and Circulation (16 articles). The United States of America contributed most of the 100 most cited papers (60 articles). Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto led the list of citation classics with six papers. Christopher A. Caldarone, John W. Kirklin, and P. E. F. Daubeney were the most productive authors with 3 articles each. More than half of the papers were cohort studies (51 articles). Surgery, radiology and etiology were the main topics. Thirty-one articles were funded by public foundations, and none received support from commercial companies.ConclusionsThe bibliometric analysis gives a historical perspective on scientific progress in the field of TAPVC and lays the foundation for future research.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13019-023-02284-4.