[1][2] Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from many academic institutions worldwide.

Apart from its online status, the encyclopedia uses the traditional academic approach of most encyclopedias and academic journals to achieve quality by means of specialist authors selected by an editor or an editorial committee that is competent (although not necessarily considered specialists) in the field covered by the encyclopedia and peer review.

[1][6] The charter for the encyclopedia allows for rival articles on a single topic to reflect reasoned disagreements among scholars.

These institutions contribute under a plan devised by the SEP in collaboration with the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, the International Coalition of Library Consortia, and the Southeastern Library Network, with matching funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

[3] The logo depicts the initials of SEP in the shape of The Thinker, an original copy of which is co-owned by Stanford and which features across the university's iconography and culture.