Selecting the content for an encyclopedia depends on the scholars and professionals involved. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, for instance, was started by a Stanford philosophy professor, but as the project grew, many scholars from around the world started to contribute to the project. Generally, university encyclopedias are about some field of study, some location in the world, or some other specific concern or phenomenon in society.
The larger an encyclopedia project gets, the more funds and resources it requires. Organizers can secure grants and fund money to help fund the development, but they must make financial plans and other considerations to safely and legally acquire those funds. Money is available for university encyclopedias, but it must be actively secured, and the project must continue and be successful to satisfy the requirements of the earned grants and sponsorships.
Because a variety of people who speak a multitude of languages write encyclopedia entries, thorough editing and organizing is necessary. Also, most encyclopedias are categorized, indexed, cross-referenced and alphabetized, which requires the expertise and efforts of copy editors and fact-checkers. Also, some modern and more popular encyclopedias are published online for public use, which requires the programming and web design skills of other academics.
Along with the decisions regarding online publishing, other considerations are necessary when publishing the encyclopedia as an actual book. The collaborators must confer with each other on what kind of information gets matriculated into the index, how the references should be listed and about other technicalities. Depending on the popularity of the encyclopedia, certain publishing costs will incur.