A fact sheet is a presentation of data on any subject in a format emphasizing brevity, key points of interest or concern, a fairly minimalist design aesthetic, and a general desire to convey the most relevant information in the least amount of space. As such, it is a medium ideally suited to the post-modern information age, when "facts" (to the extent they exist) proliferate in ever-increasing numbers while the time available to review and comprehend them diminishes. Fact sheets attempt to solve this problem by condensing information into an easy-to-read, straightforward, portable, and modular form of knowledge. They often contain lists, statistics, answers to common questions (FAQs could be considered a form of fact sheet.), and how-to, "do-it-yourself" types of advice. In some cases they may be a summary or abridgement of a longer document.

Though they originated in the offline world of print and paper, fact sheets have come into their own on the Internet, where users tend to seek information in concise formats that can be read in a few minutes or printed on a few pages.

Examples:

College bookstores sell laminated full-page pages of condensed, often-tabular, information on various subjects as study guides .

NASA planetary fact sheets

Fact sheets about animals

Fact sheets on various topics