The World Congress of Neurology (WCN) 2021 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 WCN 2021 virtual congress and/or any related event, activity, or third-party related platform.
WCN 2021 is committed to informing Congress 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 WCN 2021 takes place, third party related platforms, and any applicable host country agreement if the event takes place in a physical venue. WCN 2021 complies with such policies and will report all inappropriate conduct accordingly.
Online Behaviour During the WCN 2021 virtual congress
Congress delegates will be provided with personalized credentials allowing them access to the Virtual Congress. These credentials are personal and non-transferable. Non-registered individuals, patient parent/relatives, other members of the public, and minors will not be able to access the Virtual Congress, unless upon prior agreement with the Virtual Congress organizers.
Throughout the Virtual Congress, all meeting delegates are expected to interact with fellow attendees in the same way as at a physical Congress. 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 Congress 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 WCN 2021 Congress, is prohibited without the express consent of the presenter. Express consent is written confirmation by the author in a live chat or email correspondence.
The Congress 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.
Use of Camera and Video
Attendees of the WCN 2021 virtual congress are required to respect the privacy of other participants and refrain from any unauthorized or unwelcomed recording or photography, including recording of any direct or indirect interactions or electronic messaging with other meeting delegates. 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 within the Congress environment for professional use is not allowed without obtaining prior permission from the organizer.
WCN 2021 adheres to the copyright laws guiding the appropriate sharing of scientific research material, including data. Authors’ consent may be requested by the WCN in case sharing of scientific material from abstracts/posters/presentations will be required as part of the WCN 2021 Congress educational activities.
- As detailed under “Online behavior at the WCN 2021 virtual congress”, any recording, filming, photography, screenshots or other capturing of presentations, live sessions or other events, including scientific posters, taking place during, or associated with, the WCN 2021 virtual congress, is prohibited without the express consent of the presenter. Express consent is written confirmation by the author in a live chat or email correspondence.
Presenters and exhibitors are strongly encouraged to clearly indicate whether or not photography/recording of the poster, presentation, or exhibit booth and sharing/remixing of the material is permitted.
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 WCN 2021 Congress.
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 WCN 2021 virtual congress 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 WCN 2021 virtual congress.
Social Media
WCN 2021 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
WCN 2021 and the organizers reserve the right to take any action as deemed necessary as a consequence of any breach of the present Code of Conduct. This includes reporting to host institutions and permanent removal of WCN 2021 credentials.
In case of a breach of the Code of Conduct, the concerned individuals are requested to contact a member of the WCN 2021 staff via the live chat support of the virtual congress platform.
WCN 2021 reserves all rights to take any action to prevent and report violations of the Code of Conduct, including blocking access to the Virtual Congress and filing a police report when appropriate. WCN 2021 cannot investigate reports of harassment or other misconduct during the Congress but will inform the appropriate departments of the accused person’s host institution about any such filed.