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 Javits Center 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.

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 mandy.hansen@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.

Online Behavior During the IGCS Virtual Meeting

Meeting delegates will be provided with personalized credentials allowing them access to the Virtual Conference. These credentials are personal and non-transferable. Non-registered individuals, patient parents/relatives, other members of the public and minors will not be able to access the Virtual Meeting, unless upon prior agreement with the Virtual Meeting organizers.

Throughout the Virtual Conference, all meeting delegates are expected to interact with fellow attendees in the same way as at a physical IGCS Meeting. As such:

• All communication, be it verbal or electronic, must be carried out in a respectful and polite manner. Inappropriate messaging or contact will not be tolerated.
• Live sessions during the Conference will be moderated. Delegates are expected to respect the choices of the moderator in selecting questions or comments, managing session times, etc.
• Any recording, filming, photography, screenshots, or other capturing of presentations, live sessions, or other events, including scientific E-Posters, taking place during, or associated with, the IGCS Meeting, is prohibited without the express consent of the presenter. Express consent is a written confirmation by the author in a live chat or email correspondence.
• Participants are encouraged to report any experienced harassment to the designated IGCS Meeting organizer at hansen@igcs.org. The Meeting organizers reserve the right to take any action deemed appropriate in case of harassment. Host institutions of reported individuals will be notified about filed harassment reports.