It publishes surveys on contemporary research topics, written at a level accessible to non-experts.

It also publishes, by invitation only, book reviews and short Mathematical Perspectives articles.

[1] It began as the Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society and underwent a name change when the society became national.

The Bulletin's function has changed over the years; its original function was to serve as a research journal for its members.

The Bulletin is indexed in Mathematical Reviews, Science Citation Index, ISI Alerting Services, CompuMath Citation Index, and Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences.