Consider the family of polynomial differential systems of degree 3, or simply cubic systems $$ x' = y, \quad y' = -x + a_1 x^2 + a_2 xy + a_3 y^2 + a_4 x^3 + a_5 x^2 y + a_6 xy^2 + a_7 y^3, $$
x
′
=
y
,
y
′
=
-
x
+
a
1
x
2
+
a
2
x
y
+
a
3
y
2
+
a
4
x
3
+
a
5
x
2
y
+
a
6
x
y
2
+
a
7
y
3
,
in the plane $$\mathbb {R}^2$$
R
2
. An equilibrium point $$(x_0,y_0)$$
(
x
0
,
y
0
)
of a planar differential system is a center if there is a neighborhood $$\mathcal {U}$$
U
of $$(x_0,y_0)$$
(
x
0
,
y
0
)
such that $$\mathcal {U} \backslash \{(x_0,y_0)\}$$
U
\
{
(
x
0
,
y
0
)
}
is filled with periodic orbits. When $$\mathbb {R}^2\setminus \{(x_0,y_0)\}$$
R
2
\
{
(
x
0
,
y
0
)
}
is filled with periodic orbits, then the center is a global center. For this family of cubic systems Lloyd and Pearson characterized in Lloyd and Pearson (Comput Math Appl 60:2797–2805, 2010) when the origin of coordinates is a center. We classify which of these centers are global centers.