Background, aim,and scope Lake ecosystem is one of the most significant carbon pools on the earth. In recent years, burial carbon efficiency of lakes plays a key role in global carbon cycle, which has been paid more and more attention. In this paper, we summarized the physical, chemical, biological, and anthropogenic factors that affect buried carbon efficiency of lakes. Accordingly, we explored carbon stock and carbon cycle of lakes in response to the burial efficiency of organic carbon. Materials and methods A comparative study of the carbon burial efficiency in lacustrine sediments from different regions of the world has been conducted in the collection, screening and sorting of published literatures, covering a number of research cases and obtaining the conclusions of series. Results The results show that the impact on organic carbon burial efficiency mainly includes the following aspects. The effect of atmospheric temperature on lake organic carbon burial efficiency varies with time and place. It is now widely accepted that as the temperature of the atmosphere increases, the decomposition rate of organic carbon is accelerated and the release of CO_2 from the lake to the atmosphere increases. However, There are regional differences that the regularity of the organic carbon mineralization rate increases with increasing temperature. The variation of precipitation variability and intensity, the climate areas such as humid areas and arid and semi-arid areas have noticeable effects on the organic carbon storage of lacustrine sediments. As the variability and intensity of precipitation increase, organic carbon dissolved from land to aquatic ecosystems will increase. Compared with lakes in wet areas of eastern China, especially shallow lakes, the amount of organic carbon in lakes is much larger in arid and semiarid regions. The physical and chemical factors influencing the organic carbon burial efficiency of lakes mainly include lake water type, organic carbon source and content, oxygen penetration depth, dissolved oxygen concentration in bottom water, oxygen exposure time and lake nutrient status. The carbon burial efficiency of lacustrine is affected by the organic carbon source. In many lakes, the respiration from the input of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is stronger than that from the buried organic carbon in the lake. Relatively short oxygen exposure times and high levels of terrestrial organic matter contribute to organic carbon burial, while relatively long oxygen exposure times and low levels of endogenous organic matter accelerate mineralization of organic matter and thus hinder organic carbon burial.