Editorial Guidelines

Making people laugh is serious work. These Editorial Guidelines explain how Grin & Print researches and writes its articles, what makes a joke or meme “Grin & Print approved”, how we fix mistakes, how we use (and do not use) AI tools, and how you can send us your own jokes. We publish them so you know exactly what to expect from us, and so you can hold us to it.

Last updated: October 30, 2026

Our mission

Grin & Print shares memes, jokes and printable fun for every celebration. We grew out of a site that made printable party games and kids’ party supplies, and families, classrooms and party hosts are still at the heart of what we do. We try to live up to a quote that has been on our site from the beginning: “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.” (Audrey Hepburn). Everything we publish should be fun, useful and safe to share with a grandparent, a coworker or a seven-year-old.

How we write

• Useful first, funny throughout. Every article should leave you with something you can actually use: a game you can run on Saturday, a joke that works in a lunchbox, a clear explanation of fair use. The humor makes it enjoyable; the substance makes it worth your time.
• Specific, not generic. We prefer concrete steps, real examples and tested ideas over vague lists. If we recommend a party game, we explain how many players it suits, what you need and what tends to go wrong.
• Experience matters. Our party and printable advice comes from designing and running these games and activities ourselves. When something is our opinion, we say so.
• Plain, warm language. We write in clear American English, explain jargon (yes, even “copypasta”) and keep sentences readable.
• Accessible by default. We use descriptive headings, meaningful link text and alt text for informative images, in line with our accessibility statement.

How we fact-check

Humor articles still deserve accurate facts. Before publication, every factual claim goes through these checks:

1. Source it. Claims about history, science or law must be supported by a reliable source, preferably a primary one: the original research paper, the statute, the official government page or a well-established reference work. For example, we credit Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene (1976) for coining the word “meme”, and we refer to 17 U.S.C. §107 when discussing fair use.
2. No invented numbers. We do not publish statistics, percentages or quotes we cannot trace to a credible source. If we cannot verify it, we leave it out or clearly label it as a joke.
3. Separate legend from fact. Many meme and joke origin stories are uncertain. When the history is disputed, we say so rather than picking the most entertaining version.
4. Check it twice. A second person reviews articles that discuss legal, health or safety topics before publication.
5. Review over time. Internet culture moves fast. We revisit key articles regularly and update them when platforms, laws or facts change, noting significant updates on the page.

Our articles are not professional advice. Where a topic needs a professional, such as a lawyer or a doctor, we say so, as explained in our Disclaimer.

Humor standards

Comedy researchers Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren describe humor as a “benign violation”: something that seems a little wrong but is ultimately safe. Our job is to keep the “benign” part firmly in place. Every joke, pun and meme we publish must pass these tests:

If a joke needs a disclaimer to be acceptable, it does not run.

How we choose memes

Memes are part of culture, and our articles explain and celebrate them. When we choose a meme or template to feature, we ask:

• Is it clean and kind? The same humor standards above apply to images.
• Does it involve a private person? Many memes started as photos of ordinary people who never asked to be famous. We avoid templates that are known to have caused distress to the people in them, and we honor removal requests.
• Do we have a good reason to use it? We use third-party images only for commentary, education or criticism, use no more than we need, and credit sources where they are known. See our guide to meme etiquette and copyright and our DMCA Policy.
• Will it age well? We prefer formats that stay funny and avoid topical memes that depend on a news event involving real harm.

Our own illustrations, such as emoji-style art, are created or licensed for use on the site.

Corrections policy

We make mistakes sometimes, and when we do, we fix them openly.

• If you spot an error, tell us through our contact page or at [email protected]. Please include the page URL and what you think is wrong.
• We review every correction request, usually within 5 business days.
• Minor fixes (typos, broken links, formatting) are corrected without a note.
• Factual corrections that change the meaning of a sentence are corrected, and a short note at the end of the article explains what changed and when.
• If a joke or meme is found to break our humor standards, we remove it and say so if the change is significant.

Our use of AI

We want to be straightforward about this. We sometimes use AI writing and editing tools to help with parts of our work, such as brainstorming topics, suggesting outlines, generating first-draft variations of joke ideas, checking grammar and spotting gaps in an article. When we do:

• a person decides what gets published, edits the content and is responsible for it;
• every factual claim is checked against reliable sources, because AI tools can make things up confidently;
• every joke is read, judged and usually rewritten by a person against our humor standards, because AI tools are not reliably funny;
• we do not publish AI-generated images presented as real photographs, and we do not use AI to imitate real people.

AI tools help us work faster, but they do not replace human judgment, experience or a good groan at a terrible pun.

Advertising and independence

Our editorial decisions are not for sale. We mention our own products when they are genuinely relevant, label any affiliate links or sponsored content clearly, and never accept payment for a positive opinion. More details are in our Disclaimer.

Submission guidelines: send us your jokes

Some of the best jokes come from readers, especially kids. If you have a clean joke, pun or meme idea you think we should share, send it through our contact page.

What we are looking for

• Clean, kind jokes that meet the humor standards above.
• Your own original jokes, or a classic you love with a note saying it is a classic.
• Jokes for our categories: kids, dad jokes, puns, animals, food, school, office and holidays.
• Short and sweet: setup and punchline in a few lines works best.

Before you send

• Please do not send material copied from books, websites, comedians or other creators.
• Do not include personal information about anyone else, or photos of other people without their permission.
• Children should ask a parent, guardian or teacher to send jokes on their behalf.

What happens next

• We read every submission, but we cannot reply to them all or publish them all.
• If we publish your joke, we may edit it for length or clarity, and we will credit you by first name or a nickname if you ask us to. We never publish surnames of children.
• By sending a submission, you agree to the licence described in our Terms and Conditions. Submissions are unpaid unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
• How we handle the personal information in your message is explained in our Privacy Policy.

Questions about these guidelines

If you have a question about how we work, email [email protected]. We will update these guidelines as we grow, and the date at the top of this page will tell you when they last changed.