The formation of hydrocarbon source rocks in continental basins may be related to marine transgression. This issue is of scientific and practical significance in the theoretical study of hydrocarbon generation in continental basins, but has uncertainties. In order to improve the understanding on the issue more comprehensively and deeply, we conducted a research review, and further suggested the future directions for study. The determination of transgression is the basis for this study. Thus, we investigated the evidence supporting the transgression, which can be divided into three folds including biological, mineralogical and petrological, and geochemical. These multiple lines of evidence indicate that transgression might take place during the formation of hydrocarbon source rocks in some continental basins. The influence of transgression on the formation of the source rock is reflected in the abundance and type of organic matter, with the abundance higher and type better. In addition, it promotes the development of larger scale source rocks. In the future, we should continue to strengthen the study of finding macro and micro evidence supporting the transgression. In addition, the case study in southeastern China can provide a good complementary, where the depositional environment has a transitional change from marine, lacustrine influenced by transgression, to lacustrine. Thus a sophisticated temporal and spatial comparison can be obtained. The results will help to comprehensively and precisely understand the forming mechanism of hydrocarbon source rocks and provide information for hydrocarbon exploration