The editorial staff publishes the department's publications in various formats. Currently, the publication programme comprises three series and one journal:

The Mitteilungen des DAI Kairo has been appearing annually since 1930 with contributions on the archaeology and cultural history of Egypt. The Archäologische Veröffentlichungen, published since 1970, focus on the department's own archaeological projects. The Sonderschriften des DAI Kairo were founded in 1975, whereas the first volume of the series Menschen – Reisen – Forschungen, treating the history of Egyptology, was published in 2012.
The series Abhandlungen des DAI Kairo (since 1958) and the Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens (since 1990, in cooperation with Heidelberg University) were discontinued in 2005 and 2019 respectively.

Individual monographs appear at irregular intervals elsewhere. In 2007, for example, the publisher Phillip von Zabern brought out an illustrated book called Für die Ewigkeit geschaffen (Created for Eternity), discussing the coffins of Imeni and Geheset and the tomb's associated finds. The first results of the investigations of the DAI Cairo have been made available in an elaborately designed and richly illustrated publication. This volume also contains an attached DVD featuring an animated 3D virtual reconstruction of the above- and underground excavations at Dra'Abu el-Naga as well as a filmed documentary about the coffins' recovery.
Furthermore, on the occasion of the centennial of the DAI Cairo, the anniversary volume Begegnung mit der Vergangenheit (Encounter with the Past) and the catalogue of the special exhibition at the Egyptian Museum Cairo (edited by U. Rummel, in German, English, and Arabic) were published in 2007 on occasion of the Cairo Department's centennial. In addition, another volume with the title Der Vergangenheit eine Zukunft (A future for the past) is dedicated to the department's restoration activities in Cairo's historic city centre (in German and English).

The manuscripts submitted for publication at the DAI Cairo must be finished and ready for typesetting. All contributions must follow the indicated guidelines for the submission of manuscripts (https://www.dainst.org/publikationen/publizieren-beim-dai/richtlinien). Contributions that fail to meet the criteria stated below will be returned to the authors for revision. Before the printing process, the authors are asked to sign a publication agreement in which rights and obligations are listed in detail.
In case of questions or doubt, authors are requested to contact the editorial staff at the Cairo Department by e-mail (redaktion.kairo@dainst.de) before handing in their contribution.