[4] Kotlaba was for a long time in the editorial staff of the journal Mykologické listy and was the author of several books, some of a popular scientific nature.

Kotlabaea which is a genus of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae was published by Mirko Svrček in 1969, was named in his honour.

[5][6] The mycological journal Česká Mykologie, to which he made numerous contributions, dedicated an edition to him on the occasion of his eightieth birthday in 2007.

[7][8][9] Kotlaba's main research areas were taxonomy and geographical distribution and ecology of agarics and boletes.

[10] With Zdenek Pouzar in 1972 he influenced fungal taxonomy by defining the mushroom families Entolomataceae and Pluteaceae for the first time, in Ceská Mykologie.