[1][2] In 2005, while Marquis was owned by News Communications, Inc., publishers of The Hill; The New York Times referred to the sixtieth edition of Who's Who in America as "a librarian's Vanity Fair".

[3] Marquis states in its preface that Who's Who in America "endeavors to profile the leaders of American society; those men and women who are influencing their nation's development".

[4] Entries in Marquis Who's Who books list career and personal data for each biography, including birth date and place, names of parents and family members, education, writings and creative works, civic activities, awards, political affiliation, religion, and addresses.

Albert Marquis wrote that the book's objective was to "chronicle the lives of individuals whose achievements and contributions to society make them subjects of widespread reference interest and inquiry.

Marquis calls its selection criteria "stringent" and claims that biographical data on candidates for listing are reviewed by its editors to confirm that its requirements are met.

[17] Two statisticians with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company used inclusion in Who's Who in America in a study conducted 1950–1961, which concluded that people listed in the publication lived longer than their unlisted peers.