How have hot topics in biogeography changed through time? Anniversaries offer an opportunity to reflect on such developments. Here, we present a list of the 50 most highly cited articles – a compilation of the 5 most highly cited papers per quinquennium – that have appeared in the Journal of Biogeography (JBI) since its inception in 1974. New publications in volume 50 will include a suite of perspectives that look forward from the foundations established by the papers herein. This quinquennial ‘top 50’ was assembled by conducting a search for JBI papers in Web of Science (which covers 1977-present) and Dimensions (1974-1976), sorting them into 5-year blocks (1974–1978, 1979–1983, etc.), and then ranking them in descending order by the mean number of citations per year. The top 5 per quinquennium were selected for this virtual issue; they are presented in rank citations by period. This gives us a sense of how the discipline has (or has not) changed through time — in terms of topics, authors, and more — and how matters of authorial interest and perceived import have intersected and waxed and waned. In their time, all these papers have been material, driving the discipline forward. Some of them remain so now; others may be of renewed interest on a careful reading. It is an impressive collection of papers on which to reflect, and we hope you enjoy delving into the archives!