The survey covers publications of inscriptions from the entire Greek world, although material later than the 8th-century A.D. is not included.

There is some exception to this, as a small number of texts every volume are transcribed from photographs that have been made available, despite the fact they remain unpublished.

These are subdivided into: Names, Kings, Emperors, Geography, Religion, Military, Greek and Latin Terms, and Selected Topics.

Hondius' aim was for all Greek inscriptions to be collected in one publication, simplifying scholarly referencing.

[6][7] The current editors of SEG are: Angelos Chaniotis, Thomas Corsten, Nikolaos Papazarkadas, and Eftychia Stavrianopoulou.