A specific feature of the department is its additional task as a Styrian Literature Archive with the continuous development of collections and documentation, that are available for use as literary-historical knowledge repositories. The department carries out scientific research on the collected literary estates through third-party funded projects. In September 2023, the Franz Nabl Institute completed the historical-critical edition of Ödön von Horváth, one of the most renowned edition projects on Austrian modernism. The Literature and Archive series, which establishes a focus on archive theory at the department, is also internationally recognized.
With the widely known and well-attended Literaturhaus Graz, the Nabl Institute has a direct link to the current literary scene. The department's collection, documentation and research activities are also made accessible to a broad public. Conversely, the activities of the Nabl Institute provide the Literaturhaus program with an academic field of reflection. Not only researchers and students, but also the general public benefits from the department's library and collections. The Franz Nabl Institute's courses (as part of the curricula for German studies) are also placed in the context of a lively literary environment.
One of the department's most renowned publications is the Dossier series, in which a total of 36 volumes of material on Austrian authors were published before the project was shelved in 2011. As a peer-reviewed open access journal, the series is continued online under the name Dossier in a contemporary form and with a new content focus. Another innovative publication format is the Graz Lectures on the Art of Writing. Framed by a course at the Department of German Studies in Graz, authors, but also writers from other fields, explore the question of what they actually do when they write.