YBCO thin films with BaTiO3 nanocolumns were fabricated on (0 0 l) oriented LaAlO3 substrates by metal-organic deposition (MOD). High critical current density (J(c)) up to 10 MA/cm(2) has been observed on these self-assembled BaTiO3 nanocolumns doped YBCO films at 77K and self-field. These BaTiO3 nanocolumns had no preferential orientation and were distributed randomly in the YBCO matrix. And an improved critical current density over a wide range of magnetic field in the BaTiO3-YBCO composite films were found, which implies that this unique self-assembled microstructure provided strong vortex pinning in YBCO films. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.