Updated 27 February 2024

Nightingale, the Journal of the Data Visualization Society, pays writers an honorarium for their contributions to the digital journal (nightingaledvs.com) and to Nightingale print magazine. The decision to pay writers a stipend, even as a volunteer-run nonprofit, reflects our appreciation and the value we see in our writing community.

The purpose of this document is to clearly outline the terms and conditions writers, illustrators, and other contributors agree to when publishing in Nightingale.

Payment terms

The stipend for a Nightingale digital article is US $50, invoiced to DVS and payable the month after the article’s publication date, in alignment with DVS standard operating procedures and payment terms for managing the magazine.

For print articles, illustrations, and select special contributions to digital and print publications, the Nightingale Editorial team may set different rates but the fee must be confirmed in writing (via email) between the Managing Editor (nightingale@datavisualizationsociety.org) and the contributor in advance. Adjusted payment terms cannot be negotiated after publication.

To be paid for your contribution to Nightingale, contributors must:

Complete the the onboarding form to be added to Bill.com
Complete setting up their Bill.com account once prompted (you will receive an email), including entering electronic funds transfer (EFT) information. Note that the Data Visualization Society can only accommodate electronic payments at this time, due to the international nature of our contributors and the high fees and time associated with payment via check.
If you are a routine contributor and/or have a larger scale contract, you must submit your W9 form (if US based) or W8-BEN (if international) if your total income in a calendar year form DVS is greater than US$600. Failing to submit this document may delay your 1099 tax form and/or leave DVS at compliance risk.

If you have already received payments from DVS for another engagement, including a personal services contract, speaking stipend, etc., you will not need to re-register with Bill.com

To receive the standard stipend ($50 per contribution), the Data Visualization Society will initiate an invoice on the contributor’s behalf in by the 7th of the month following publication for digital contributions and within 30 days of print magazine release.

For alternate rates determined with the editorial team, the contractor is responsible for submitting an invoice for the agreed rate.

As alternates to cash payment for standard contributions, contributors have two options:

Receive One free copy of the magazine, via a discount code that can be redeemed in our online shop (shipping charges may apply depending on your shipping address)
Donate your payment back to the Data Visualization Society if you don’t wish to or are unable to accept compensation

If a contributor does not provide their information for Bill.com and complete the onboarding form within 60 days of article publication date, the Data Visualization Society will assume the contributor has chosen the option to donate the $50 stipend to DVS in support of the mission of the organization as a 501c3 nonprofit.

Intellectual property

By publishing with Nightingale, you are granting a non-exclusive perpetual license to the Data Visualization Society to publish your work and share derivative works (e.g. images, quotes, etc.) for the purpose of sharing your article with our network.

As part of providing compensation to writers, we ask that you request permission before cross posting works to other journals or personal blogs. Nightingale primarily publishes original work not published elsewhere; if reblogging or publishing, a link back to the original article should be included.

We prefer all articles to appear on Nightingale exclusively for three weeks before authors repost on their personal sites. After that, we encourage authors to link back to the original Nightingale post, the benefits of which include a credibility boost and SEO-friendly external links. If you have any questions, just send us an email — we’ll work it out!

You have the right to request the article be removed from Nightingale digital at any time by emailing nightingale@datavisualizationsociety.org. If you publish in the print journal, the article cannot be removed due to the nature of the publication.

Nightingale Editors

Our Nightingale editorial team currently consists of Alejandra Arevalo, William Careri, Jason Forrest, Elijah Meeks, and Teo Popescu. Reach us at Nightingale(at)Datavisualizationsociety.org