Soil organic carbon is the foundation and core of farmland fertility, which is of great significance for crop yield, agricultural environment and the earth's carbon cycling. Crop straw is one of the important external sources for soil organic carbon replenishment in cropping soils. The processes of returning straw to soil exert a significant effect on the turnover of soil organic carbon and hence carbon pool balance. Soil carbon priming is a common phenomenon, which can be defined as an distinct shift of native organic carbon mineralization due to fresh organic matter inputs into the soils. There is an increased attention to the straw-induced priming effect in the recent years, due mainly to the fact that straw incorporation not only involves high-effective resource utilization of crop straw residue, but also directly relates to the balance of soil carbon pool and its functionality. Despite a tremendous advance in the theoretical study on soil organic carbon priming following the external organic matter inputs, we are currently facing other big challenges. For instance, that how to combine this latest theoretical knowledge into the practical application of straw residue management aiming to promote soil carbon sequestration and reduce carbon emissions. To tackle these difficulties, the characteristics and potential mechanisms of the organic carbon priming due to straw return to soils should be clarified, and its specific drivers (i.e., edaphic, climatic and anthropogenic factors) should also be fully identified fully. This paper first systematically summarized the potential theoretical basis of organic carbon priming such as co-metabolism theory, N-mining theory, stoichiometric decomposition and microbial, and necromass reuse. Secondly, we combined existing research data and theoretical hypotheses to elaborate a series of implicit factors that govern the direction and magnitude of soil carbon priming, including the straw type and quantity, return method, water and fertilizer management, soil properties, and climatic agency, et al. Finally, taking into the consideration the high-effective utilization of straw residue, the sustainable build-up of soil carbon pool, and environmentally friendly farming practices, the potential research directions on straw-induced soil carbon priming we proposed, and the adaptative straw management methods designed to promote soil carbon sequestration were also outlined.