Information
Code of Conduct
ACH Code of Conduct
1. Purpose and Principles
The Asian Congress of Herpetology (ACH) exists to advance the study and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, strengthen scientific cooperation across Asia, support the next generation of herpetologists, and promote responsible exchange of knowledge within the international scientific community.
Scientific progress depends upon an environment in which people can exchange ideas freely, question evidence, disagree constructively, develop collaborations, and participate without intimidation, discrimination, harassment, or abuse of authority.
ACH is therefore committed to maintaining a professional, respectful, inclusive, scientifically rigorous, safe, and welcoming environment for everyone participating in its activities.
Participation in ACH activities constitutes acceptance of this Code of Conduct.
2. Scope
This Code applies to all persons participating in, organizing, supporting, or attending activities conducted under the name of the Asian Congress of Herpetology, including Congress participants and registered delegates; undergraduate and graduate students; plenary, keynote, invited, and contributed speakers; symposium organizers and session chairs; ACH officers and committee members; scientific and institutional partners; volunteers and staff; exhibitors and vendors; sponsors and their representatives; publishers and media representatives; accompanying persons and guests; contractors and service providers; and any other person participating in an ACH activity.
The Code applies to Congress venues; scientific sessions; committee meetings; workshops and training programs; Asian Herpetology Summer Schools; field courses and field excursions; exhibitions; networking events; receptions, dinners, and social functions; transportation arranged by ACH; accommodation-related activities formally organized by ACH; ACH websites and registration platforms; official online meetings and discussion forums; ACH-related social-media interactions; and other activities formally organized, endorsed, or administered by ACH.
The principles of this Code are intended to apply to all editions of the Asian Congress of Herpetology and associated ACH activities, irrespective of host country.
3. Expected Professional Conduct
All participants are expected to treat others with dignity, courtesy, fairness, and professional respect; communicate openly and constructively; respect differences in scientific opinion, experience, culture, language, background, and professional status; listen respectfully to perspectives that differ from their own; critique scientific ideas, methods, interpretations, and evidence rather than attacking individuals; allow speakers and participants reasonable opportunity to communicate their work without deliberate disruption; respect the authority of session chairs, organizers, venue staff, field leaders, and safety personnel when acting within their assigned responsibilities; respect personal boundaries and privacy; respect local laws, customs, communities, protected areas, and institutional regulations; behave responsibly during scientific, social, field, and online activities; contribute to an environment in which students and early-career researchers can participate without intimidation; and intervene responsibly or report concerns when serious misconduct or threats to participant safety are observed.
Scientific disagreement is welcome. Personal hostility is not.
4. Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Participation
ACH brings together people from many countries, cultures, languages, disciplines, institutions, career stages, and professional backgrounds.
Discrimination, exclusion, or harassment based on characteristics including, but not limited to, nationality, national origin, ethnicity, race, colour, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, health condition, pregnancy, marital or family status, religion, belief, language, socioeconomic background, institutional affiliation, career stage, physical appearance, or other protected or personal characteristics will not be tolerated.
Scientific seniority, institutional status, academic title, political position, financial contribution, sponsorship, or professional reputation does not place any individual above this Code.
5. Harassment, Bullying and Intimidation
ACH prohibits harassment, bullying, intimidation, stalking, coercion, threats, and abusive behaviour.
Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, verbal or physical intimidation; repeated unwanted personal attention; threatening or humiliating behaviour; deliberate public shaming; aggressive behaviour involving a real or perceived power imbalance; unwanted physical contact; persistent disruption of another person's participation; abusive or degrading comments; deliberately hostile communication; stalking or following another participant after being asked to stop; misuse of professional authority or seniority to intimidate another person; and retaliation against an individual for declining personal, professional, or social interaction.
6. Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct
Sexual harassment and sexual misconduct are prohibited.
This includes unwelcome sexual advances; requests for sexual favours; unwanted sexual comments or jokes; inappropriate comments about another person's body or appearance; unwanted touching; displaying sexual material in inappropriate contexts; repeated romantic or sexual attention after lack of interest has been communicated; coercive behaviour involving differences in authority, seniority, employment, supervision, funding, or academic opportunity; and any other unwelcome verbal, non-verbal, digital, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Consent must be voluntary and cannot be inferred from silence, professional interaction, previous social contact, or participation in Congress activities.
7. Scientific Discussion and Academic Freedom
ACH strongly supports scientific debate and academic freedom.
Participants may question hypotheses, methods, taxonomic decisions, nomenclatural acts, analyses, interpretations, conservation approaches, policies, and conclusions.
Strong disagreement is not misconduct.
However, scientific criticism must remain professional.
Criticism should address evidence, methodology, reasoning, interpretation, or conclusions, rather than nationality, personality, institutional affiliation, career status, or other personal characteristics of the researcher.
Session chairs may intervene when discussion becomes personally abusive, discriminatory, threatening, persistently disruptive, or unrelated to legitimate scientific debate.
8. Scientific Integrity
ACH expects high standards of scientific integrity.
Participants must not knowingly engage in fabrication or falsification of data; plagiarism; deliberate misrepresentation of research findings; fraudulent manipulation of images or analyses; misrepresentation of authorship; presentation of another person's unpublished work as one's own; knowingly false statements concerning permits, specimens, samples, provenance, or methods; deliberate concealment of relevant conflicts of interest when disclosure is required; or other serious breaches of accepted research ethics.
Submission or presentation at ACH does not constitute endorsement of the scientific conclusions by ACH.
Responsibility for the integrity of presented research remains with its authors.
9. Authorship, Collaboration and Research Credit
ACH encourages equitable scientific collaboration.
Participants should appropriately recognize collaborators; students; field assistants; local researchers; museums and collections; Indigenous and local knowledge holders where appropriate; institutions providing facilities or specimens; funding organizations; and individuals making substantive intellectual or technical contributions.
Researchers should avoid exploitative collaborations in which local researchers, students, field workers, or institutions contribute substantially to research but are denied appropriate recognition, participation, authorship, or access to resulting knowledge.
ACH encourages partnerships based on mutual respect, transparency, reciprocity, and equitable scientific credit.
10. Students and Early-Career Researchers
Students and early-career researchers are an essential part of ACH.
Senior researchers, supervisors, organizers, reviewers, and session chairs are expected to create an environment that encourages their professional development.
ACH will not tolerate humiliation of students during scientific discussion; exploitation of supervisory authority; coercion involving authorship, employment, recommendations, funding, or academic advancement; deliberate exclusion from appropriate scientific credit; or retaliation against students for raising legitimate scientific or professional concerns.
Questions and constructive criticism are encouraged but should contribute to learning rather than intimidation.
11. Wildlife, Fieldwork and Animal Welfare
As a scientific community dedicated to amphibians and reptiles, ACH has a particular responsibility to promote ethical treatment of wildlife.
During ACH-organized field activities, participants must comply with applicable wildlife, protected-area, animal-welfare, access, and research regulations; follow instructions issued by authorized field leaders and relevant authorities; avoid unnecessary disturbance, handling, restraint, or manipulation of animals; minimize disturbance to habitats; avoid damaging vegetation, shelters, nests, breeding sites, or other ecological features; not collect animals, tissues, eggs, specimens, plants, or other biological materials without explicit authorization and appropriate permits; not remove wildlife from field sites for personal possession; not deliberately stage harmful interactions for photography or social media; follow appropriate hygiene and biosecurity procedures where required; and respect restrictions concerning sensitive species and locations.
Participation in an ACH field excursion does not constitute authorization to collect, handle, export, transport, or conduct wildlife research.
12. Sensitive Species and Locality Information
Herpetological information can sometimes create conservation risks.
Participants should exercise particular care when communicating precise locality data for threatened species; breeding or nesting sites; locations of commercially valuable reptiles or amphibians; information that could facilitate illegal collection or wildlife trafficking; and sensitive information supplied by local communities or conservation programs.
ACH encourages open science while recognizing that responsible restriction of sensitive biodiversity information may sometimes be necessary for conservation.
13. Photography, Recording and Broadcasting
ACH supports the responsible communication of science.
Unless otherwise indicated by the presenter, participants may discuss publicly presented scientific ideas in general terms. However, participants must respect intellectual property, confidentiality, unpublished research, and presenter preferences.
Photographs, screenshots, audio recordings, video recordings, or direct reproduction of presentation slides, unpublished figures, posters, datasets, or other scientific materials should not be publicly distributed without permission from the presenter or rights holder, unless those materials are already publicly available and their reuse is permitted.
Presenters may identify slides or information as DO NOT PHOTOGRAPH, DO NOT RECORD, DO NOT SHARE
Participants are expected to respect such requests.
Official ACH photography and videography may take place at Congress activities. Where reasonably practicable, ACH will provide mechanisms for participants with legitimate privacy concerns to communicate them to the organizers.
14. Social Media and Digital Conduct
Professional standards apply equally to online conduct associated with ACH.
Participants must not use ACH-related digital spaces to harass or intimidate others; disclose private information without permission; deliberately misrepresent another participant; distribute confidential or unpublished scientific information contrary to presenter instructions; impersonate ACH, its officers, or another participant; conduct targeted harassment campaigns; or retaliate against individuals who raise concerns under this Code.
Participants remain personally responsible for their own social-media statements.
15. Cultural Respect and Host Communities
ACH is an Asian congress operating across a continent of exceptional cultural diversity.
Participants should respect the laws, customs, religious practices, communities, institutions, and cultural heritage of the host country.
During field activities, participants must respect local communities, landowners, guides, Indigenous peoples, protected-area staff, and other stakeholders.
Scientific interest does not override community rights, cultural norms, legal requirements, or access restrictions.
16. Sponsors, Exhibitors and Commercial Independence
Sponsors, exhibitors, commercial partners, publishers, and service providers are subject to this Code.
Commercial support does not provide authority over abstract acceptance; scientific program decisions; speaker selection; peer review; awards; scientific conclusions; publication decisions; or interpretation of scientific evidence.
All scientific content and scientific decision-making shall remain independent of commercial sponsorship.
Promotional activities must occur only within spaces and formats authorized by ACH.
17. Conflicts of Interest
Individuals participating in ACH governance, abstract review, awards, grants, competitions, financial decisions, or other evaluative processes should disclose relevant conflicts of interest and, where appropriate, recuse themselves from decisions in which impartiality could reasonably be questioned.
Personal relationships, institutional competition, scientific disagreement, nationality, commercial interests, or professional rivalry must not be used improperly to influence ACH decisions.
18. Financial Integrity
All ACH financial transactions must be appropriately authorized, documented, and administered according to the governance structure applicable to the relevant Congress or ACH activity.
ACH funds, sponsorships, grants, registrations, and other resources must be used only for legitimate authorized purposes.
Fraud, misappropriation, unauthorized expenditure, falsification of financial records, or misuse of ACH resources will not be tolerated.
Commercial sponsorship must not compromise scientific independence.
19. Compliance with Law and Venue Rules
Participants must comply with applicable laws and the rules of venues, accommodation facilities, protected areas, transportation providers, and other locations associated with ACH activities.
Prohibited conduct includes unlawful possession or use of controlled substances, deliberate damage to property, unauthorized wildlife collection or trade, violence, and other unlawful acts.
Alcohol, smoking, and similar activities must comply with applicable law and venue regulations.
20. Reporting Concerns
Anyone who experiences or witnesses conduct that may violate this Code is encouraged to report it.
Reports may be made to designated ACH officers, which may include the Congress Chair; Congress Co-Chair; Secretary-General; designated Code of Conduct / Safeguarding Officer; or another officer specifically identified by the relevant Congress.
Each ACH Congress should publish appropriate reporting contacts before the event.
Reports should provide, where reasonably possible, the nature of the concern; date and approximate time; location or platform; person or persons involved; witnesses, if any; and relevant documentation or evidence.
Anonymous reports may be considered, although anonymity may limit ACH's ability to investigate or respond.
21. Confidentiality
Reports will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible.
Information may nevertheless need to be shared with individuals responsible for assessing the complaint, protecting participants, conducting an investigation, obtaining professional advice, or complying with legal obligations.
ACH cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality where disclosure is necessary to protect safety, ensure procedural fairness, or comply with law.
22. Good-Faith Reporting and Protection from Retaliation
No person should suffer retaliation for making a good-faith report; seeking advice about possible misconduct; providing information during an investigation; supporting another participant who raises a concern; or declining to participate in inappropriate conduct.
Retaliation is itself a violation of this Code.
Knowingly making a deliberately false or malicious allegation may also constitute misconduct.
A complaint that is not substantiated does not, by itself, mean that it was made in bad faith.
23. Immediate Safety Concerns
Where conduct presents an immediate threat to personal safety, participants should prioritize their safety and contact venue security, emergency services, local authorities, or other appropriate assistance.
ACH officers should be informed as soon as reasonably possible when the incident concerns an ACH activity.
ACH procedures are not a substitute for law enforcement, emergency medical care, institutional safeguarding procedures, or other legal remedies.
24. Assessment of Reported Violations
Reports will be considered as promptly, impartially, and fairly as circumstances permit.
Depending on the nature of the allegation, ACH may obtain further information; speak separately with the complainant, respondent, and witnesses; review available documentation; implement temporary protective measures; limit contact between individuals; seek advice from relevant institutional or professional authorities; and determine an appropriate response based on the available information.
Where practicable and appropriate, individuals accused of misconduct should be informed of the substance of the allegation and provided a reasonable opportunity to respond before serious disciplinary measures are imposed, except where immediate action is necessary for safety or event management.
25. Possible Actions and Sanctions
Depending on the seriousness, circumstances, evidence, and recurrence of misconduct, ACH may take one or more actions, including informal guidance; verbal warning; written warning; requirement to cease specified behaviour; removal from a particular session or activity; restriction of contact with another participant; removal of inappropriate material; cancellation of a presentation; removal from a committee or official role; revocation of volunteer, exhibitor, sponsor, or partner privileges; expulsion from the Congress or associated activity without refund; exclusion from future ACH activities for a specified or indefinite period; notification of the individual's institution, employer, professional body, funding organization, or other relevant authority where justified; and referral to venue security, law enforcement, wildlife authorities, or other competent authorities where appropriate.
Actions should be proportionate to the nature and severity of the violation.
26. Conduct of ACH Officers and Committee Members
ACH officers and committee members are expected to uphold particularly high standards of professional conduct.
Leadership positions must never be used to obtain inappropriate personal, professional, financial, academic, or sexual advantage.
Concerns involving an ACH officer should be referred to another sufficiently senior and independent officer who is not involved in the matter.
Where a complaint concerns the Congress Chair, Secretary-General, or another senior officer, the matter should be referred to an appropriate independent group of ACH leadership members who have no conflict of interest.
27. Responsibility of Session Chairs and Event Staff
Session chairs and authorized ACH personnel may intervene when conduct is persistently disruptive; discriminatory; threatening; personally abusive; clearly inappropriate; unsafe; or inconsistent with this Code.
This may include stopping discussion, requesting that a participant modify their behaviour, temporarily suspending a session, or seeking assistance from Congress leadership or venue security.
Such intervention should not be used to suppress legitimate scientific disagreement.
28. Continuing Responsibility Beyond an Individual Congress
ACH is intended to build a lasting Asian scientific community.
Serious misconduct occurring during one Congress may therefore affect eligibility to participate in future ACH activities.
Likewise, lessons arising from each Congress should be used to strengthen future safeguarding, accessibility, scientific integrity, field ethics, and participant-support procedures.
The ACH leadership may periodically review and amend this Code as scientific practice, technology, legal requirements, and professional standards evolve.
29. Our Shared Responsibility
A Code of Conduct cannot create a scientific community by itself.
That responsibility belongs to everyone who participates.
ACH asks each participant to help build a culture in which scientific disagreement is rigorous but respectful; collaboration is equitable; students are encouraged rather than intimidated; wildlife and communities are treated responsibly; knowledge is shared with integrity; differences are approached with professionalism; and
scientific excellence is strengthened by mutual respect.
The Asian Congress of Herpetology brings together many nations, disciplines, institutions, and generations. Our differences are part of the strength of that community.
Our shared responsibility is to ensure that ACH remains a place where science can advance freely, people can participate with dignity, collaborations can grow through mutual respect, and the next generation of Asian herpetologists can find both opportunity and belonging.
By participating in ACH, each of us contributes to building not only a successful Congress, but a stronger, more connected, responsible, and enduring herpetological community across Asia and beyond.
CONTACT
Congress Chair: Dr. A. A. Thasun
E-mail: secretariate@herpetologycongress.asia
Whats App/Call: +62 81584353810