The Edward Pendleton Herring papers primarily consist of materials related to Herring's long-time role as president of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), but also contain reports, correspondence, and clippings connected to his military advisory positions during World War II and his leadership in societies and clubs, including the American Political Science Association, the International Political Science Association, the Comitato per le Scienze Politiche e Sociali (COSPOS), the International Social Science Council, and the Cosmos Club. The institutional files and correspondence reflect Herring's capacity as a foundation executive and academic political science researcher as well as his participation in international projects like Growth of Democracy Abroad (GODA) and the Foreign Area Fellowship Program (FAFP).

The Francis X. (Frank) Sutton papers primarily consist of material related to Sutton's time at the Ford Foundation, spanning his tenure as Assistant to the Vice President, Deputy Vice President, and his work writing the history of the Ford Foundation as a consultant. This collection documents Sutton's involvement beyond the Ford Foundation as well; it contains a substantial amount of information on the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, the Rockefeller Foundation and Bellagio Conference, and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Additionally, there is a small amount of material on the American Foundation for Intellectual Cooperation with Europe (AFICE) which documents its foundation and eventually, its termination. Personal files can be found at the end of the collection (Series 6) which consist of family correspondence, awards, publications, datebooks, and notebooks – most of which document Sutton's cross-organization involvement, travels, and projects.

This collection of the Social Science Research Council is not a complete documentation of the Council's work. Some material was purged throughout the years. Much of the earlier Council material, from the 1920s to the 1940s is missing, but older Council documents can be found in the collections of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial.

The vast majority of the AIDS series is comprised of the files of Richard C. Rockwell. Records include project proposals, conference papers and proposals, survey files, meeting records, correspondence and other research materials.

Contains Social Science Research Council annual reports 1945-1972, 1977-1978, and 1996-1998.

The Committee on States and Social Structures series includes project proposals, conference and workshop papers and proposals, meeting records, correspondence and other research materials.

The East Asia/Indochina series primarily contains records pertaining to the Indochina Studies Program (ISP), the Indochina Scholarly Exchange Program (ISEP), the Indochina Studies Committee, and related files. Files include: correspondence, papers and drafts, reports, periodicals, meeting records, grant files and fellows files.

The Economics Initiative series contains correspondence, papers and drafts, reports, periodicals, meeting records, and associated background information.

This collection of the Social Science Research Council is not a complete documentation of the Council's work. Some material was purged throughout the years.

The records in Record Group 3 primarily consist of program and project files and administrative records often including: project proposals, conference and workshop papers and proposals, meeting records, surveys, correspondence and other research materials.