The list indicates the number of issues an individual's name has appeared in the masthead of MAD. In addition, the list also identifies the positions held by that individual at MAD in chronological order. For example, Nick Meglin (who appeared as Nick Megliola through issue No. 50) was listed under "Ideas" in issues No. 31 to 41, followed by "War Correspondent" * (No. 42 to 50), missing from the masthead (No. 51 to 58), "Editorial Associate" ** (No. 59 to 73), "Associate Editor" (No. 59 to 221), "Senior Editor" (No. 222 to 254), "Editor" (No. 255 to 437), and "Contributing Editor" (No. 438 to 472).

At least two fictitious names are included on the list (Melvin Cowznofski and Alex Taffer). The following business entities or products that appeared in the masthead are also included: De Luca's Delicatessen, Max's Dry Cleaners, Jim Sheridan's Newsstand, Mindell Chemists, Colony Record Center, and Moxie.

Starting with MAD No. 343, the masthead included a section for "Circulation" and "Administration". Because circulation and subscription credits were included in the early issues of MAD, those masthead appearances are included on the lists; however, because those listed in "Administration" are not part of the day-to-day operations of MAD, they are not included. The exceptions are the positions of President, Publisher, and Associate Publisher, which were originally part of the main masthead before being moved to the "Administration" subheading starting with MAD No. 426.

Interns were initially included in the MAD masthead, but from in 2002 to 2014 (with two exceptions noted below) they were identified in the letters column of MAD instead. These interns are included on the list for consistency. Although a call for 2003 intern applications appeared in No. 422, no interns for that year were identified later. No interns appeared in the letters column for 2013, either (it is not known if there was an intern program that year). The final appearance of interns in the letters column was for 2014. However, it is known through other sources that Scott Lieberman was intern in 2013 and McKinley Rodriguez was an intern in 2016 (both are included on the list based upon these sources) implying that there may have been interns in 2015 (and perhaps other interns besides Lieberman and Rodriguez in those years) as well.

Miscellany: in two issues, Jerome "Jerry" DeFuccio was listed under "Spelling" and "Mixed Emotions" rather than "Continuity", but only "Continuity" is included on the lists as an umbrella term. Likewise, also in two issues, Martin J. Scheiman, Esq. was listed as "Lawsuits and Imitation Scrutinizer" instead of just "Lawsuits"; in two issues, Anne "Annie" (Griffiths) Gaines was listed as "Blue Cross Troubleshooter" instead of "Logistics" and in another issue she was also listed as "Mrs. Wm. M. Gaines (finally!)".

* "War Correspondent" is an umbrella term for several different masthead titles used for Meglin (then Megliola) while he was in the service as Private and Private First Class. In addition to "War Correspondent", he was also listed under "K.P.", "Ft. Dix Jockey", "A-Year-And-A-Half-To-Go", "War Surplus", "Brand New Daddy", and "Secret Weapon".

**"Editorial Associate" is an umbrella term for several different masthead titles used for both Meglin and Jerome "Jerry" DeFuccio during this time period. In addition to "Editorial Associates", they were also listed under "After The Editor's Job", "Two For The Money", "Editorial Insistents", "Double Indemnity", and "Two Critical Areas of Clod Distress".