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\lhead{\sc IACR Policy for the Ethics Committee}
\rhead{\sc \lastupdate}

\title{\bf IACR Policy for the Ethics Committee}
\author{\mbox{}}

\date{\lastupdate
 \footnote{The most recent version of this document
    can be obtained from \protect\url{http://www.iacr.org/docs/}.\newline
  Editors of this document: Christian Cachin (2011), Nigel P. Smart (2014), Joppe W. Bos (2019).}}


\begin{document}

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\maketitle

\section{Purpose}

The \emph{Ethics Committee} establishes rules and provides guidance
for ethical behavior in all matters that concern the IACR.

The Ethics Committee is responsible for providing recommendations to
editors, program chairs, program-committee members, and reviewers
concerning fairness and ethical aspects of all matters under the
influence of the IACR, such as its operations, its events, and its
publications.  The Ethics Committee shall protect the reputation of
the IACR by establishing consistent ethical principles regarding these
matters.

One of the main activities of the IACR are its peer-reviewed
scientific publications, consisting of the Journal of Cryptology and
of conference and workshop proceedings.  The selection of papers
occurs according to their scientific merit and based on the highest
scientific and ethical standards.  In cases where conflicts may arise
or have arisen about fairness and ethical behavior regarding
operations of the IACR, the Ethics Committee may issue recommendations
for resolving disputes but does not interfere with the authority of a
program chair or an editor.  Persons involved in operations of the
IACR, in its publications, and in its conferences may bring a question
or a dispute to the attention of the Ethics Committee.  The Ethics
Committee operates independently of the Board, but may inform or
consult with the Board in special cases.


\section{Tasks}

The Ethics Committee issues recommendations on ethical aspects 
through the following documents:
\begin{itemize}
\item the Rules and Guidelines for Program Chairs;
\item the Rules and Guidelines for General Chairs;
\item the Guidelines for Reviewers;
\item the Policy on Irregular Submissions.
\end{itemize}
The Ethics Committee will maintain a record of all its deliberations
where it concluded that an ethical violation occurred. No records
will be kept of deliberations where an ethical violation was not
considered to have happened. All records will only be available
to the Ethics Committee and they will not be shared with other
parts of the IACR (including the Board of Directors).


\section{Composition}

The Ethics Committee consists of the Vice President
(currently Greg Rose), 
the Program Chair Liaison Officer of the Board (currently Bart Preneel)
and three further Board members of the IACR.
It is chaired by the Vice President.

The Board appoints the further member to the Ethics Committee at the
beginning of every calendar year; this occurs usually at the first
physical meeting meeting of the Board in a calendar year.
If the board has no current Program Chair Liaison Officer, then the
board will appoint one at the beginning of the calendar year.

\section{Operation}
Once an ethical issue is reported to the committee the members
shall decide what additional information is required. A person who
is accused of ethical violation will be allowed to give their
side of the story. The committee will then come to a decision
which will be one of the following:
\begin{itemize}
\item {\bf No Violation:} In this case all records of the investigation
	will be deleted.
\item {\bf Undesirable Behaviour:} In this case, which is considered a
	breach of good behaviour but not ethics, a note is made of the
	event (which will be kept for three calendar years).
\item {\bf Ethical Violation:} In this case, a sanction will be imposed.
	This could include banning the party from sitting on program
	committees for a period, banning from submitting papers for a period, 
	or even expulsion from the IACR.
\end{itemize}
Feedback on the decision will be given both to the person raising the
issue and anyone else who was involved in providing evidence.

Case records (e.g. of the accusation and of deliberations) will only be 
kept where either undesirable behaviour or an ethical violation was 
considered to have happened.
In all cases records will be deleted after three calendar years.

Case records (even innocent ones) can be used to
clarify rules and regulations, after thorough anonymization (namely
by extracting only those details that are relevant to serve as case 
study and possibly incorporating fantasy details to create a narrative).

The Program Chair Liaison Officer will use the information obtained as a member
of the Ethics Committee for giving advice to Program Chairs
about potential ethical issues and about the selection of committee members.

\end{document}

