Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is a friendly summary. Where it differs from the binding documents — the Terms of Service, Creator Terms, Content Policy, Privacy Policy, and Using FactsFigs Visuals — those documents control.

About FactsFigs

What is FactsFigs?

A data-storytelling publication. We take public datasets, work out what they actually say, and publish that as charts, maps and written stories that a non-specialist can follow. Everything on the site is made by our own team in our own editor.

Is FactsFigs a place where anyone can publish?

No. FactsFigs is not a user-generated-content site. There is no open submission queue and no way to buy your way onto the site. Everything we publish is commissioned from our own creators and approved by an editor first.

Our creators

Who are FactsFigs creators?

They are the people who make the work: data analysts, designers and writers engaged by FactsFigs to research a topic, build the visuals and write the story. They are part of the team, not customers of a tool and not contributors dropping something into a queue. Every creator has a named author page, and their name appears on what they make.

How do I become a creator?

By applying, the way you would for any other position — there is a form at Write for FactsFigs. Tell us what you have made before and a topic you think we are missing; a link to previous work is worth more than a CV. We read every application, and we only open a place when there is a subject we want covered.

Can I sign up as a creator instead?

There is no creator signup. A creator account is created by us once someone joins the team, which is why the option no longer appears anywhere on the site. Reader accounts are open to everyone.

Is the editor you use available to me?

Not today. The Visual Story Editor is the internal tool our creators build with. If we ever release it as a product it will be its own thing, on its own address — FactsFigs itself will stay a publication.

Publishing

How does something get published?

A creator researches the topic, builds the visuals and drafts the story, then submits it. An editor reviews every submission and either approves it — at which point it goes live — or sends it back with notes. Nothing reaches readers without that approval. There is no quota, no credit and no allowance: the only thing standing between a draft and the front page is whether an editor thinks it is ready.

Who owns what is published?

FactsFigs does. Work commissioned from our creators and published here belongs to the publication, and the creator is credited by name on the piece and on their author page. What readers may do with a published visual is a separate question, answered in Using FactsFigs Visuals.

What are sponsored stories?

A sponsor can commission a data story — often on a dataset they hold or care about — and pay for the work. We research, build and write it to the same standard as anything else, an editor reviews it the same way, and it is clearly labelled as sponsored on the page. Sponsorship buys the work, not the conclusion: if the data does not say what a sponsor hoped, the story says what the data says. There is a form at Sponsor a data story.

Accuracy & responsibility

Who is responsible for what you publish?

FactsFigs is. Our creators work for us, so their work is our work, and pointing at the person who drew the chart is not an answer we are willing to give a reader. If something we published is wrong, it is ours to correct.

What does your review actually check?

Two things. That the piece is well made — clear, original, readable, following our Content Policy — and that every figure in it is traceable to a named, public, already-published source that a reader can open and check for themselves. A number with no source does not get published.

Do you re-verify the underlying data?

We do not re-run other people's research. What we take responsibility for is provenance: that the dataset is real, that it is public, that we have named it accurately, and that our chart is a faithful reading of it rather than a flattering one. Where a source is contested, disputed or an estimate, we say so in the story instead of presenting it as settled.

Something looks wrong. What do you do about it?

Tell us at ai@factsfigs.com and we will check it. If we got it wrong we correct the piece and say what changed. For copyright or legal complaints, use the Notice & Takedown procedure.

What about health, medical, or financial claims?

Nothing we publish is professional advice. Stories touching health, medicine or money carry extra disclaimers and get more scrutiny before approval, because being wrong about them costs readers more.

Using our visuals

Can I reuse a FactsFigs visual?

Usually yes, under three rules: link back, attribute, don't edit. The attribution is baked into the downloaded file — please leave it there. Full terms are in Using FactsFigs Visuals.

What attribution is required?

Credit the creator, FactsFigs, and the data source, and keep the link back. All three matter: the source so a reader can check the figures, and the creator because a person made it.

Maps & data sources

Where does the data come from?

Each visual names its data source in the attribution block. Keep that credit intact when you reuse a visual — some sources have their own attribution rules, and in the EU/UK a separate database right can apply to datasets.

What about maps?

Downloadable maps are based on OpenStreetMap (with attribution) or public-domain sources like Natural Earth, so they're safe to download and reuse — unlike map tiles from providers that forbid offline reuse.

Reporting problems

How do I report copyright infringement or illegal content?

Use the Notice & Takedown procedure, or email ai@factsfigs.com. If your content was removed by mistake, you can file a counter-notice.

Accounts & billing

What subscriptions are there?

One: a reader subscription, which removes ads and adds download rights. Reading FactsFigs is free and stays free — the subscription is for people who would rather not see advertising and want to take the visuals away with them. There is no creator subscription, because a creator is someone we hire rather than someone who pays us.

How does billing work?

Paid plans are billed in advance and typically renew automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime; access runs to the end of the paid period. See the Terms of Service.

How do you handle my personal data?

See the Privacy Policy. We don't sell your personal data, and you have rights to access, correct, and delete it (subject to legal and survival exceptions).