FactGrid:Terms of Service
Note: this is a translation of the legally binding text at FactGrid:Nutzungsbedingungen
What is FactGrid?
FactGrid is a database and research platform for dynamic and continuously editable “living” data in historical research. At its technical core it employs the Wikimedia software Wikibase. The platform is operated by the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg with the aim of serving scientifically oriented projects both as a research tool and as a publication venue for data and content that remain publicly available through ongoing collective updating during and beyond the lifespan of individual projects.
The service is primarily aimed at users in historically oriented humanities disciplines, memory institutions, and citizen science initiatives, but is in principle open to all persons with a scholarly interest. FactGrid publishes open and, above all, interconnected research data, authority data, vocabularies, and data-processing services with a low barrier to entry. It works closely with the GND Agency for “Historical Research, Authority Data, and Data Curation” in order to ensure a high quality of data. The project depends first and foremost on the engagement of the entire FactGrid community. FactGrid is developed and operated in close consultation and cooperation with this community.
Technically, the platform consists of the database (the FactGrid Wikibase instance), an accompanying WordPress blog, tools for the presentation, analysis, and operation of the database, and data-specific services. FactGrid may make use of third-party services. Since 2023, the National Research Data Infrastructure has funded a continuous advisory and support service to assist research projects with data integration on the platform. FactGrid data, both in datasets and in visualizations, are designed for human users. Through the RDF-based graph database’s application programming interface (API), however, they are simultaneously integrated into the public exchange of data with authority-data providers and national research data infrastructures, and support SPARQL queries.
Information in FactGrid can be modelled freely thanks to the Wikibase Knowledge Graph software. The goal, however, is the broadest possible use of shared categories, authority data, and ontologies in order to create interconnected and integrated knowledge. Database entities, as well as the statements concerning them, are automatically assigned persistent identifiers (Q-numbers) by the Wikibase instance. Their changes are documented, and they are available in any language. All data in FactGrid are released under a CC0 licence. Only in this way can the entire resource, and every query against it, remain freely reusable at all times. FactGrid’s data contributors nevertheless appreciate detailed acknowledgement and citation of the projects and provenance of the data, even where this is not legally required.
Versioning of information in FactGrid takes place automatically at the level of individual statements. The platform’s entire data structure is subject to continuous change and development. Data that should be preserved unchanged in larger, coherent datasets can at any time additionally be hosted in long-term preservation repositories such as RADAR4Memory (the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt is happy to provide advice and support in this regard).
The Wikibase instance is hosted by the Thuringian University and State Library Jena. A tool server is located at the computing centre of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and also hosts the accompanying blog (which is currently still located at the University of Erfurt’s computing centre). Since 2023, the entire service has been maintained by the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt, although it was originally developed and operated over many years by the Gotha Research Centre (University of Erfurt).
Terms of Use
The rights and obligations set out below apply, together with the services offered and these Terms of Use, upon the creation of a FactGrid account. Regardless of the platform’s role model, they apply to all users of the FactGrid community. They concern in particular the legal framework of data protection and copyright, research ethics, and their practical and organisational implementation within FactGrid.
This service is based on the following principles:
- All editing processes on the platform take place publicly. Data that you contribute become part of a publicly usable body of information at the moment they are saved. Use of the platform, both internally and externally, is governed by the CC0 licence. You permit users to connect, reuse, and further develop these data, even without attribution of the original source. Independently of this publication, you may publish your data elsewhere under different licensing models. Your release of data on FactGrid remains permanently unaffected by such publications.
- Data that you publish in FactGrid may be modified at any time by you on the same basis as by any other user. You should proceed with caution and thoroughly inform yourself about the use of ontologies, authority data, and underlying data structures beforehand. We offer tailored support through the “FactGrid Starter Kit” consultation service.
- To contribute data to FactGrid, you must possess a real-name account. Such accounts are created by authorised users of the platform and include contact information: the name under which you publish, a contact address (which may be an institutional or association address), and an e-mail address. Identity may be verified manually where necessary. There is no automatically generated registration process. By accepting an account, you agree to assume authorial responsibility for all edits you make.
- Possession of a user account does not create any entitlement against the platform. The objective of the FactGrid project is to create a shared, interconnected data space. This can succeed only if users:
- adapt, wherever possible, to existing data models (ontologies);
- respect third-party rights, data protection requirements, copyright law, and research ethics in accordance with applicable law and principles of good scientific practice;
- follow the Wikimedia Foundation’s Universal Code of Conduct if uncertain how to interact constructively and respectfully on the platform;
- coordinate data imports, especially large-scale imports, with administrators to ensure that the platform’s functionality is not inadvertently endangered.
- In the event of disputes, you acknowledge that authorised users of the platform may prevent problematic data imports and may restrict further use of accounts. Administrators intervening in disputes will endeavour to explain their actions transparently.
In all matters concerning data import and maintenance, the supervisors of the Historical Data Center Saxony-Anhalt are available to advise and support you. They provide particular assistance during the planning and initial phase of a project with the modeling and import of your data (FactGrid Starter Kit). However, they do not assume any responsibility for the content of your data or for compliance with legal requirements. You remain fully responsible in this regard. The Historical Data Center Saxony-Anhalt reserves the right to delete data that is problematic from a data protection, copyright, or ethical perspective (e.g., violations of applicable laws) in consultation with the Community Advisory Board. In cases of other serious misconduct, a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis following consultation between the Historical Data Center and the Community Advisory Board. The Community Advisory Board reserves the right to adapt and update the Terms of Use as needed. It is an editorial principle of the project that such changes will be communicated transparently through the designated communication channels.
Editorial Structure of the Platform
The User Community
The user community consists of all users who hold a user account registered under their real name and e-mail address and who commit themselves to the legal and organisational framework outlined above. Communication within the community takes place through the blog, pages within FactGrid, and via the mailing list:
https://www.listserv.dfn.de/sympa/info/factgrid-community
Users may subscribe to this mailing list independently.
FactGrid operates a role model with different rights and responsibilities, which are described below. Beginning in 2026, the FactGrid community will organise itself through simple member voting within the FactGrid platform and elect a scholarly Community Advisory Board for two-year terms.
To this end, nominations for candidates will be invited on 1 June of every even-numbered year. Following a four-week period for applications and candidate presentations, elections will be held in July. The Advisory Board shall consist of up to eight members representing different institutions, organisations, or independent individuals, together with one representative of the institution responsible for the platform’s operation (currently the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt).
Decisions concerning the modelling and integration of data, provided that no copyright or legal regulations are violated, are made on the platform in consultation with the user community. This community includes all users who actively participate in discussions and voting processes. Decision-making processes are normally discussed and documented on user pages under the assumption that no conflict exists.
In the event of disagreement, the community area at:
serves as the forum in which collective decisions may be reached within a fourteen-day period. If disputes cannot be resolved in this way, the Community Advisory Board shall make a binding decision. Such cases may be referred to the Advisory Board by users, administrators, or the staff of the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt.
FactGrid Users
FactGrid users are all individuals who possess a user account. The protection of your password and other security credentials is your own responsibility. These should never be disclosed to third parties. Your account includes a personal page containing your contact details together with an associated discussion page through which other users may contact you. By maintaining a user account, you undertake not only to make this personal information publicly visible but also to keep it up to date yourself. User accounts are created by an administrator. Thereafter, users may update their own profile information (including their e-mail address), create pages independently, establish items in accordance with existing data models, and describe them through properties. When creating new properties, users should compare them with existing structures and seek common modelling solutions together with other projects.
It is strongly recommended that users also subscribe to the community mailing list:
https://www.listserv.dfn.de/sympa/info/factgrid-community
Particularly important information is distributed through the mailing list in addition to publication on relevant FactGrid pages.
Users are encouraged to create a project page associated with their account and present the aims of their research there. They should place pages relating to projects and users of interest on their watchlist in order to remain informed about discussions on the platform.
Before contributing data to FactGrid, users should familiarise themselves thoroughly with the existing data structures and ontological frameworks, seek advice from the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt wherever possible, and conduct an authority-data reconciliation process.
Every FactGrid user may participate in the Community Advisory Board or contribute actively to the further development of FactGrid.
Administrators
“Administrators” (Admins) are users who are granted the ability by the platform’s “Bureaucrats” to create user accounts.
In cases of conflict, administrators may restrict accounts, for example in order to halt a problematic mass import of data. Administrators implement the decisions adopted by majority vote within the community or by the Community Advisory Board and may delete user-contributed data from FactGrid.
Administrative status is granted by Bureaucrats. Users who lead larger projects or coordinate substantial areas of scholarly content may apply to a Bureaucrat for administrative privileges.
It is in the interest of collaborative work that projects be empowered through the role system to organise themselves independently.
Bureaucrats
Holders of “Bureaucrat” accounts occupy the highest level within FactGrid’s intentionally flat Wikibase hierarchy.
They possess the technical capability to create and deactivate administrator accounts but otherwise have no special access to the installation. In particular, they have no access to user accounts beyond ordinary permissions and cannot, for example, reset users’ e-mail connections.
For as long as the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt remains responsible for supporting FactGrid, it shall retain a Bureaucrat account.
Within community decision-making processes concerning data modelling, neither administrators nor Bureaucrats possess enhanced voting rights. They may, however, provide advice and guidance based on their familiarity with particular subject areas.
Members of the Community Advisory Board
The Community Advisory Board represents the wishes and needs of the user community. It promotes the further development of FactGrid, organises scholarly networking activities, and coordinates the representation of community interests vis-à-vis third parties and the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt.
Most importantly, the Advisory Board resolves disputed questions of data modelling and, in cases of conflict, reaches decisions by majority vote, provided that no legal violations are involved.
The Advisory Board is supported organisationally by the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt, works in consultation with it, and serves in an advisory capacity to the Data Centre.
Candidates for membership of the Community Advisory Board must submit their candidacy by 1 June of every even-numbered year (beginning in 2026), together with a short statement introducing themselves and their objectives, on the page:
https://database.factgrid.de/wiki/FactGrid:Community_Advisory_Board
As a rule, candidates should be active users of FactGrid. A diverse representation reflecting the breadth of projects within FactGrid is sought.
Where necessary, the Community Advisory Board may further refine the procedures governing the election of its members.
On 1 July of the same year, the community elects up to eight members to the Advisory Board. All elected members automatically receive administrator status. The Advisory Board additionally appoints the Bureaucrats of FactGrid.
The Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt
Since 2023, the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt has assumed responsibility for the content-support services previously provided by the Gotha Research Centre. This responsibility forms part of Germany’s National Research Data Infrastructure programme.
By virtue of this role and its associated funding, the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt is permanently represented on the Community Advisory Board without election and retains permanent Bureaucrat and Administrator status.
The Data Centre provides substantive support to new projects during their preparation, creation, import, and implementation. This support particularly concerns questions of data modelling and the use of FactGrid’s ontological structures.
The Data Centre maintains close relationships with the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), Wikimedia as the software provider, and the German National Library, with which FactGrid continuously coordinates authority data and vocabularies.
To support these activities, the Data Centre offers a variety of external services, some of which may also be used within FactGrid.
Hosting Institutions and Technical Services
Hosting
The hosting of the FactGrid instance is organised jointly by the Community Advisory Board and the institution responsible for content support (currently the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt).
At present, hosting is provided on servers located in Jena under an agreement between the University of Erfurt and the Thuringian University and State Library (ThULB). Since 2026, a tool server has been operated at the Information Technology Centre (ITZ) of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
The long-term objective is to secure hosting for the platform as part of the service infrastructure of the German National Research Data Infrastructure.
An essential condition of the hosting arrangement is that participating institutions may terminate their hosting commitments for their own reasons. Agreements have therefore been structured in such a way that active projects on the platform are given sufficient time, technical support, and organisational assistance to continue operating the platform on servers of their own choosing.
This is legally possible because all data are made available under a CC0 licence, allowing unrestricted continuation without copyright infringement.
In practical terms, hosting partners undertake to provide the necessary data and configuration information to the Community Advisory Board and the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt with sufficient organisational notice to enable migration.
Developers and Providers of Technical and Advisory Services
Additional services have been and continue to be developed in support of FactGrid’s further development. These services may include technical tools, data-curation services, or advisory support.
Such services may be developed and offered either by FactGrid users or by external third parties.
Unless otherwise agreed, responsibility for these services remains with their respective providers.
All services integrated into FactGrid are listed on the page:
Enhancements should, wherever possible, be released under open licences, particularly because technical services can become obsolete quickly.
FactGrid endeavours to maintain these services collaboratively with their developers, but users have no entitlement to their continued availability.
Additional offerings may also include fee-based services where these are provided outside the FactGrid platform as supplementary services.
Introductory and curation-related services are available through the corresponding service websites.
Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Notice, available at:
provides information about the processing of your personal data through our website.
In addition, the following provisions apply to the processing of personal data.
Identification of Platform Users by Real Name and Contact Information (Personal Data)
As a scholarly publication platform, FactGrid attributes all editing activities to the individuals who perform them by displaying their real names, contact information, and e-mail accounts.
Contact information may consist of either institutional addresses or private addresses.
By requesting and accepting a user account, you consent to the public display of this information on the platform. These data are stored publicly and may only be removed upon request when an account is deleted.
At the web-server level, the IP address and User-Agent header associated with all requests are logged for up to five weeks. Among other purposes, this enables individual users whose IP ranges have been blocked as part of anti-scraping measures to be manually restored to access.
To enable users to remain logged in across sessions, the platform uses cookies that store the necessary connection-related information.
Personal Data Published Through Research Projects on the Platform
Projects that publish data on the platform bear editorial responsibility for the publication of those data within FactGrid. The respective project pages should document the relevant governance structures and applicable rules.
In cases of conflict, platform administrators are authorised to delete pages and remove content in such a way that it is no longer publicly accessible through version histories.
Administrators may intervene whenever required by data-protection regulations, personality rights, embargo periods, copyright obligations, or ethical considerations.
As a rule, project leaders or users whose data are affected will be involved in these processes through the FactGrid platform, provided that their e-mail addresses are current and they actively use discussion pages. However, they have no legal entitlement to insist upon the publication of content that threatens the continued operation of the platform as a whole.
Data contributors are particularly responsible for complying with obligations owed to third parties, including archives, libraries, copyright holders, and other data providers. Legal issues should therefore be clarified before data are uploaded to the platform.
For their own protection, contributors are advised to exercise caution and avoid actions that could result in criminal or civil liability under any applicable legal system.
Applicable legal systems include, at a minimum, the laws of Germany and the European Union. Depending on the circumstances, authorities and legal frameworks from other jurisdictions, including the United States and additional countries, may also be relevant.
FactGrid cannot provide protection, guarantees, immunity, or indemnification against the application of such laws.
FactGrid itself is not subject to archival law. Rather, the platform functions as a scholarly publishing medium and, as such, is subject to German press law. German press law permits the use of publicly accessible and publicly citable information.
The editorial principle of the project is that publicly available information may serve both public and scholarly interests, and participating projects operate within that understanding.
In the Event of a Dispute
The FactGrid project is founded upon the assumption that all participants act in good faith.
All projects operating on the platform seek, on this basis, to accommodate individual objections and concerns wherever possible. This is particularly important for large-scale projects that make extensive datasets available on the assumption of a broad public interest, without being able to foresee every potential objection in advance.
If you believe that your rights are affected by particular information resources, please contact the data providers using the contact information provided on the project's homepage or through the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt, which will facilitate communication with the relevant data providers.
In the event of a dispute, the editorial policy of the project is to seek a mutually acceptable solution together with the responsible data provider. The guiding principle in such cases is the continued and effective operation of the platform across the full range of projects hosted on it.
In particularly sensitive cases, decisions are taken by the Community Advisory Board in consultation with the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt.
In such circumstances, administrators are authorised, at their discretion, to:
- identify, investigate, prevent, respond to, or otherwise address fraudulent, inaccurate, unverifiable, security-related, or technical problems, and to respond to corresponding user requests;
- refuse, revert, disable, remove, or restrict access to contributions made by users who violate these Terms of Use;
- revoke a user's ability to make edits or contributions, or suspend a user's account or access rights where actions have violated these Terms of Use, including repeated publication of unlawful material under applicable law and in accordance with human-rights principles;
- pursue legal action against users who violate these Terms of Use, including reporting matters to law-enforcement authorities where appropriate; and
administer the project websites in any other manner reasonably necessary to ensure their proper functioning and to protect the rights, property, and security of the platform's information resources.
If you believe that the persons responsible for the project have not responded satisfactorily to a report concerning problematic content, or if you have been subject to a moderation measure that you wish to challenge, you may submit a written appeal to the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt at:
hinfo@geschichte.uni-halle.de
or directly to the Community Advisory Board.
Termination
In general, use of FactGrid does not require formal termination. Data published on the platform remain permanently available.
User accounts may be frozen upon request. In such cases, all personal data associated with the account, together with all editing and version-history records, remain permanently stored within FactGrid. Only the personal user page containing personal contact information may be deleted.
In the event of violations of the FactGrid Terms of Use, it may become necessary to suspend services temporarily, in whole or in part, revoke access privileges, block user accounts or access rights, or exclude users from participation.
Where a user account or access right is suspended or otherwise terminated, all prior contributions and records of activity associated with the projects—including correspondence sent to the support team—remain unaffected.
Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms of Use, the Historical Data Centre Saxony-Anhalt reserves the right to suspend or discontinue services at any time, with or without cause and with or without prior notice.
Even after access has been suspended, terminated, deleted, or otherwise restricted, these Terms of Use shall continue to apply insofar as their provisions remain relevant.
Disclaimer
Further information regarding the disclaimer may be found at:
Accessibility Statement
Wikimedia software is developed with the objective of being usable by as many people as possible, regardless of the devices they use or their individual abilities.
Content generated through MediaWiki should comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. The underlying code conforms to the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The website is displayed correctly in current web browsers, and adherence to established standards helps ensure compatibility with future browsers as well.
WordPress, which is used for the FactGrid blog, is developed according to the same principles. We seek to apply similar standards of accessibility and ease of use when developing FactGrid tools.
If you experience difficulties accessing any part of the website, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank You!
FactGrid thanks you for taking the time to read these Terms of Use. We greatly appreciate your contributions to the project and your use of our services.
Through your contributions, you help build something significant: not only an important collection of collaboratively created reference resources that provide educational content and information to millions of people who might otherwise lack access to them, but also a vibrant community of like-minded and dedicated participants committed to a common purpose.
