The IGCS Annual Global Meeting is a professional scientific event that provides a respectful, harassment-free, and inclusive environment for all participants, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, appearance, ethnicity, race, national origin, age, or religion. 

All Delegates, including speakers, exhibitors, media, staff, and other participants are expected to behave with integrity and respect towards other delegates attending or involved with the IGCS Annual Global Meeting and/or any related event. 

The IGCS Meeting is committed to informing Meeting delegates about the code of conduct for event attendees, as well as ensuring that procedures and guidance for appropriate reporting of unacceptable behavior of any kind are made available to all those involved. 

The present Code of Conduct is not a legal document or prescriptive in nature. It supplements but does not affect, the application of other relevant policies, regulations, rules, and laws, including laws regulating the premises or platform in which the IGCS Meeting takes place, third party related platforms, and any applicable host country agreement if the event takes place in a physical venue. The IGCS Meeting complies with such policies and will report all inappropriate conduct accordingly. 

 

Use of Camera and Video

Attendees of the IGCS Meeting are required to respect the privacy of other delegates and refrain from any unauthorized or unwelcomed recording or photography. Participants are not allowed to take photos or videos of scientific material shown unless express prior consent by the presenter has been ascertained. Moreover, integral recording of complete oral presentations is not allowed unless these are done by a professional entity that has been contracted for this purpose by or on behalf of the organizer. 

Taking photos and recordings at the Century City Conference Centre for professional use is not allowed without obtaining prior permission from the organizer. 

The IGCS Meeting adheres to the copyright laws guiding the appropriate sharing of scientific research material, including data. Authors’ consent may be requested by the IGCS Meeting in case sharing of scientific material from abstracts/posters/presentations will be required as part of the IGCS Meeting educational activities. 

 

Health & Safety

We want you to enjoy a safe experience while attending any IGCS meeting. While the IGCS continues to recommend people are up to date on vaccinations, attendees of IGCS meetings are not required to be vaccinated or verify vaccination status. In addition, masks are optional for IGCS meetings and prior COVID-19 antigen testing is not required. 

IGCS continues to encourage attendees to practice safe measures to stop the spread of respiratory illnesses, including using social distancing, testing when appropriate, taking recommended actions, such as isolating in your hotel room and not visit the center or meet with colleagues, when symptomatic or having tested positive to COVID-19, and wearing a mask if you choose. We will continue to follow best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and abide by any legal mandates and recommendations from government officials in the location of any IGCS meeting. These protocols and information are subject to change. 

 

Harassment

For the purpose of these guidelines, harassment consists of improper or unwelcome conduct that might reasonably be perceived as causing offense or humiliation to another person. Harassment may involve any conduct of a verbal, non-verbal or physical nature, including written and electronic communication, and may occur between persons of the same or different genders. Harassment in any form is not tolerated at the Meeting. 

Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to: 

 

• Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, race, age, religion, political affiliation 
• The production or non-consensual sharing of harassing non-consensual photography or unwanted recording, including sexual images in public spaces (in any format, electronic or otherwise) 
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• Sustained disruption of talks, sessions, or other events
• Inappropriate contact, including via electronic communications
• Unwelcomed sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviors

 

Presentations

All data and scientific research that is presented at the IGCS Annual Global Meeting shall be based on original research findings that have been derived from procedures and experiments that adhere to the accepted guidelines for good ethical and experimental research conduct. Presenters are responsible for the content of their presentations, whether oral or written and shall secure appropriate consent from collaborators and funders, as relevant, prior to any presentation at the IGCS Meeting. 

 

Social Media

IGCS encourages open and respectful discussions on social media platforms. Nonetheless, participants are requested to not post images or videos online without obtaining appropriate permission. Participants are requested to respect any request from an author not to disseminate the contents of their presentation/poster. 

 

Reporting Process

The IGCS Meeting and organizers reserve the right to take any action as deemed necessary because of any breach of the present Code of Conduct. This includes reporting to host institutions and permanent removal of Meeting credentials. 

In case of a breach of the Code of Conduct, the concerned individuals are requested to contact a member of the IGCS Meeting staff at igcs@igcs.org. 

IGCS reserves all rights to take any action to prevent and report violations of the Code of Conduct, including blocking access to the Meeting and filing a police report when appropriate. IGCS cannot investigate reports of harassment or other misconduct during the Meeting but will inform the appropriate departments of the accused person’s host institution about any such filed report.