The Policy & Abuse committee (PAC) is responsible for enforcing the AO3 Terms of Service (TOS). To help users better understand the TOS, we’re posting a weekly spotlight series about the TOS and our policies. We’ll also be reading comments and answering questions on this and our other spotlight posts.

Last week’s post was on ratings and Archive warnings. This week, we’ll discuss the other kinds of tags that we enforce, as well as the ones that we don’t. At the end of this post, we’ll provide details on the info that we need included in an incorrect tag report in order to be able to handle it as quickly and efficiently as possible. Although these are minor policy infractions, investigating them can take us a very long time to investigate if the report doesn’t contain enough information.

Don’t go looking for things to report.

Please do not start searching for incorrectly tagged works to report after reading this post. We know that incorrectly tagged works are a problem on AO3. However, when people deliberately search for works to report, we end up getting a lot of duplicate tickets about works that have already been reported. Every ticket we receive is reviewed by a PAC volunteer, so we only need one report in order to investigate an issue. We know it seems like sites only respond to mass reports, but on AO3, duplicate and mass reports increase the time it takes our volunteers to investigate.

Not all tags are required

Every work on AO3 must have at least one rating, Archive warning, fandom, and language tag. If these tags are used incorrectly, then PAC (or, as we’ll discuss below, the Support committee) may intervene. We discussed ratings and warnings in our last post, and we’ll explain what we mean by “incorrect” fandom and language tags below.

All other types of tags, such as category, character, relationship, and additional tags, are optional. Our rules for those kinds of tags are much looser. You’re not required to use them if you don’t want to, and PAC does not enforce the accuracy of these tags.

Fandom tags

Every work must have at least one fandom tag, and some may even have more than one. You are not required to tag every fandom that appears in your work. However, you should not use fandom tags for fandom content that does not appear in your work.

For example, if you’re planning a one-shot anthology for multiple fandoms, you should only add a particular fandom tag after the relevant chapter for that fandom has been posted. Please don’t include a fandom tag if you haven’t yet added any content from that fandom to your work.

We take a pretty broad view of what counts as “fandom content”, and we generally defer to the creator’s judgement. We don’t intervene in cases where franchise or sub-franchise tags have been used. For example, if Darth Vader shows up in your work, you’re allowed to tag it with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), even if your work is primarily about the Star Wars Original Trilogy. Similarly, if Cloud Strife appears in your work, you could tag your work with Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and/or Kingdom Hearts (Video Games) as fandom tags because Cloud is a character in both fandoms. If a fandom has both a movie and a comics version, we will defer to creators on whether to use the fandom tags for one or the other (or even both). It’s up to the work’s creator to use their best judgement about which fandom tags are most suitable.

However, we do have a few minimum standards. Generally, we don’t consider the following scenarios sufficient to mean a fandom is represented in a work:

• A minor or off-hand reference to a well-known/pop-culture element from fandom A, such as an item, location, or the name of a character
• The characters of fandom B are consuming the canon of fandom A, such as by playing a game or watching a movie
• The characters of fandom B are roleplaying as the characters from fandom A

If a fandom doesn’t feature in your work beyond minor references such as these, you should not tag that fandom on your work. Instead, you can use an additional tag such as References to The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) or Inspired by The Great Gatsby.

RPF vs FPF

On AO3, we generally differentiate between RPF (Real-Person Fiction) and FPF (Fictional-Person Fiction). When you’re writing about a canon’s real-life actors (such as Chris Hemsworth or Mark Ruffalo), you should indicate that by using the “RPF” version of a tag (such as Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF). If you’re writing about the fictional characters (such as Thor or Bruce Banner), and not their actors, then you should use the tag for that fictional universe (such as Marvel Cinematic Universe). Even if you’re writing about a real-life actor on set, filming a movie, you should still only use the RPF fandom tag and not the tag for the fictional universe: the fictional character isn’t actually present in the work, it’s simply the actor doing their job.

Sometimes, fandoms have only RPF components, typically when the fandom is for a reality show or other non-fictional canon. For example, fandoms like Boys Planet (Korea TV) and My Favorite Murder (Podcast) do not involve any fictional characters, so the RPF-FPF divide does not apply to them.

A fandom tag that is an actor’s name, such as Pedro Pascal – Fandom, is automatically considered RPF. These fandom tags should not be applied to works that are only about the characters an actor portrays. Instead, you can use an additional tag such as Joel (The Last of Us) Played by Pedro Pascal. If you’re a fan of a specific actor or pairing and enjoy seeing them in the different roles they’ve played, you may also be interested in the Actor X/Actor Y Character Combinations additional tag format.

Generic fandom tags

Because we take a very broad view of how relevant a fandom tag is, it’s always OK to use a generic fandom tag such as Unspecified Fandom, No Fandom, or even Original Work. Just as you can always opt out of applying a specific rating (by instead using “Not Rated”) or a specific warning (by instead using “Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings”), you may opt out of using a specific fandom tag by instead using a generic or non-specific fandom tag.

You’re never required to use any particular fandom tag. If you want to tag all your fanworks with Unspecified Fandom instead of specific fandom tags, you’re free to do so. We may require a creator to remove an inaccurate fandom tag, but we will never require a specific fandom tag to be added.

Synonymous tags

AO3’s tag system relies on Tag Wrangling volunteers, who link synonymous tags to a canonical tag if both tags are the same type and have the same meaning. This is why you can click on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or BtVS – Fandom and the same set of results will pop up; these two fandom tags have both been made synonyms of the canonical fandom tag Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) works page will show works tagged with exactly “Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)” and works tagged with any synonymous fandom tags. If you want to learn more about how tag wrangling works, refer to the Tag Wrangling Work Description.

PAC does not handle issues relating to what tags are canonical, how tags are formatted, or which tags have been made synonymous with which other tags. We only look at the exact tag on a given work, not where it’s linked to. If you have concerns about a Tag Wrangling decision, please contact Support instead.

Language tags

Every work must be tagged with a language reflecting the language the work is presented in. If the work has multiple primary languages, or no language at all (e.g. artwork), we’ll defer to the creator’s judgement about which language to tag their work with.

In 2021, Support took over responsibility for handling language tags. If you find a fanwork that’s labeled with an incorrect language, please report it to Support, not to PAC. Support will contact the creator and ensure their work is labeled with a language that’s represented in the work.

Non-mandatory (optional) tags

Creators can use the category, relationship, character, and additional tag fields to provide more information about their work, but they’re not required to. Neither PAC nor Support will judge the accuracy or relevance of these kinds of tags.

However, all tags (regardless of type) are still subject to our general content policies. Tags can’t be used to engage in commercial activity or harass other users, because these are both not allowed on AO3. (Later posts in this series will discuss these kinds of violations and how we handle them.)

Harassment generally includes tags which insult or threaten other AO3 users. As mentioned above, inaccurate tagging is not considered harassment. Tags which express negative views of characters or relationships are also not considered harassment. AO3 is open to all kinds of fanworks, including ones that are critical, mocking, or parodies.

If you dislike the way a particular user tags their works, the TOS FAQ has some tips on how to avoid content you don’t want to encounter.

What happens if I’m reported for tagging an incorrect fandom?

First, we’ll review the reported work to confirm whether your fandom tags are actually incorrect. If you need to update them, we’ll send you an email telling you to fix the issue.

If you don’t fix it, we’ll remove any inaccurate fandom tags. If doing this means we end up removing all of the fandom tags on your work, we’ll add the “Unspecified Fandom” tag instead.

We don’t ever delete works for having incorrect tags. While we do require inaccurate fandom tags to be fixed, it is very rare for us to apply any penalties to a user’s account for incorrectly tagging a fandom. We usually only penalize a user if they revert the changes we made or required them to make, or if they are frequently mistagging their works despite repeated attempts from us to contact them.

However, tags are still subject to our Content Policy. If you violate our commercial promotion or harassment policies with your tags, penalties will be applied accordingly. We’ll discuss those policies in later posts.

What should I do if I encounter a work that has an incorrect tag?

You can give the creator a heads up by politely commenting on their work and linking to the TOS FAQ or this post. Alternatively, you can:

• Report the work to PAC, if the incorrect tag is a fandom tag.
• Report the work to Support, if the language is incorrect.
• Mute the work or its creator, if the incorrect tag is a category, character, relationship, or additional tag; or if the issue is with the work’s completion status, updated date, kudos count, or other metadata.

How do I report a work with the wrong fandom tags?

Although we ask that you do not deliberately seek out incorrectly tagged works to report, if you come across a work tagged with one or more incorrect fandoms, you can report it using the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form, which is linked at the bottom of every page on AO3. If a work is tagged with multiple incorrect fandoms, please give us a list of all of the fandom tags you think are incorrect and should be removed.

Regardless of what type of incorrect tag you’re reporting, please don’t report more than one user at a time or submit multiple reports about the same user for the same reason. When reporting multiple works by the same user, please submit only one report with links to each work you’re reporting, so that all information about that user is in the same place.

For example, a report of a work with an incorrect fandom might look like this:

Link to the page you are reporting: https://archiveofourown.org/works/00000000

Brief summary of Terms of Service violation: Incorrect fandom tag

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by USERNAME is tagged with “Star Wars” but it’s actually only about the Avengers, and the characters just watched Star Wars for movie night.

If you are reporting additional works, please include all relevant links and other information in your report description:

Description of the content you are reporting:
This work by USERNAME is tagged with “Star Wars” but it’s actually only about the Avengers, and the characters just watched Star Wars for movie night.

Some of their other works also have the wrong fandom:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456789 is tagged “The Avengers (Marvel Movies)” but it’s about Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. which means it’s RPF and should be tagged with the RPF fandom tag. Steve Rogers and Tony Stark don’t appear anywhere in the work.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34567890 This work tags “The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time” when the character’s sword only shapeshifts into the Master Sword for two sentences before turning into another sword.

You can add more details if you like, but this example provides the basic information we need:

• Who posted the incorrectly tagged work(s): Tell us their username or if the work is anonymous or orphaned.
• Where we can find the work(s): Enter one URL in the “Link to the page you are reporting” field, and (if applicable) include links to any other violating works in the description of your report.
• What violates the TOS: Explain which fandom tag(s) on each work you’re reporting are incorrect. A brief list or description is fine; you don’t need to be very detailed or quote an entire TOS or FAQ section.

You’ll receive an automatic email confirming that we received your report, and our volunteers will investigate when they get a chance. Please be patient and do not submit another report about the same work. While PAC and Support investigate every report we receive, it can take several months for us to process a report, and not every report will receive a reply.

What if I have more questions about tags?

PAC follows a strict confidentiality policy. Therefore, while you are welcome to ask general questions in the comments of this post, we will not give information on specific cases, publicly rule on a work, or update you on the status of a report you have already submitted. Comments on this post that discuss specific works or users will be removed.

If you think you’ve found a work that is tagged with a fandom that doesn’t appear in the work, please report the work to us as described above. If you think you’ve found a work that is tagged with an incorrect language, please report it to Support instead. For more information, you can read our TOS FAQ on other tags.

If you are still uncertain, you can comment below or submit a question through the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports form.