The nearly 5,000 selected titles, primarily self-contained works (composite or specialized monographs, doctoral dissertations, etc.), as well as collective volumes or conference proceedings, provide a "retrospective," panoramic view of the contributions of many leading Byzantine scholars and medievalists from both the past and modern times up to the present.

The core bibliographic corpus here essentially has a life of around two centuries, from the early decades of the 19th century to the present day. Special attention is given to the Greek-language production of recent decades, although provisions have been made to record many of the foundational Byzantine/medieval works, whether secular or ecclesiastical history in all languages.

Although this bibliography primarily specializes in historical (secular & religious), philological, and historical-geographical themes, it also includes several key titles of cultural works, as well as some on archaeology and art, especially in archaeological content (monuments, architecture, art, craftsmanship, etc.) that provide useful historical and biographical details.

A wide selection of works related to neighboring as well as other medieval nations/states and cultures is provided, where there are significant sections about their relationships with the Byzantine Empire throughout the medieval period. Additionally, monographs on important figures from the rest of the medieval (excluding Byzantium) world, whose actions and works are directly or indirectly related to the history and culture of the Eastern Empire, are included.

Moreover, some of the key works on Byzantine numismatics and sigillography (seal studies) are included here, significantly contributing to Byzantine portraiture. Special emphasis is placed on recording the older and newer compositions related to two historical periods that are particularly critical for the fortunes of the later medieval Hellenism: the Latin rule in the Greek region (from 1204 onwards) and Cyprus (from 1191/1192 onwards), as well as the early Ottoman period (from 1453/1460/1461 onwards), with a broad selection of relevant standalone and collective works. Several titles relating to the Jews of Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean world are also catalogued.

Among the numerous writings that examine the history of medieval Western Europe, the Christianity of the Eastern world, the Turkic and Slavic peoples of the Balkans and Eastern Europe (including the Russians of the states of Kyiv and Moscow), as well as the Muslim peoples of the East (Arabs, Persians, Turks, etc.), primarily those that include chapters or issues of their relations with Byzantium are bibliographed.