The general editor of the anthology, Vincent B. Leitch, a professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, managed a six-year development process as the head of a team including William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John McGowan, and Jeffrey J.

[2] Literary theory scholar Jonathan Culler, called it "the most comprehensive collection around" in 2003, but noted that its length (2,624 pages[2]), range (from BCE to the 21st century), and weight (12.6 ounces[3]) suggested it may be more useful subdivided by time periods.

[4] David Richter, adding to the discussion after the publication of the NATC, details the extended process of creating the anthology ("conceived before 1989," more than a decade before it would be published) along with other controversies reflecting that it was "a product of a culture industry attempting to establish the canon of theory," which resulted in decisions based in considerations of market, contributions by editor, and budget.

[5] As the anthology was published in updated editions (the second in 2010 and the third in 2018[6]), scholars continued to debate the attention given to subtopics within critical theory.

[6] For example, Steven Mailloux, in 2020, noted that while the NATC includes rhetoric in its definition of topics within literary theory, "the most important rhetorical theorist of the twentieth century, Kenneth Burke, ... continues to be absent in the 2018 third edition.