Code of Conduct

By engaging and interacting with ACRP’s Online Community, you agree that you have read and will follow the rules and guidelines set for this online exchange of knowledge. You also agree to post/comment on only content that is relevant to the conduct of clinical research and the work performed therein.

As with any community, there are guidelines governing behavior on interactive knowledge sharing tools. For instance, violating antitrust regulations, libeling others, selling, and marketing are not permissible. Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the ACRP Web Administrator at webmaster@acrpnet.org. ACRP reserves the right to remove content that violates the following guidelines and/or suspend or terminate membership on any or all Online Community tools (Discussions, Communities, Resource Libraries, and Directory) for members who violate these rules.

Failure to adhere to the Code of Conduct will result in the following:

  • First Violation: A written warning is sent to the member who violates the Code of Conduct and the message may be deleted.
  • Second Violation within 12 months of first violation: A written warning is sent to the member who violates the Code of Conduct and the message may be deleted. The member's ACRP Online Community account is suspended for 30 days.
  •  The promotion of products/services or the posting of job openings in public spaces, or through messages to other community members, is strictly prohibited - do not post commercial messages in any eForum, blog, Wiki or Resource Library. All content that is commercial or promotional in nature will be removed immediately, including job postings.
  • The Online Community, including individual member profiles, may not be used for any mass communication purposes of any product, service or recruitment activity outside of the designated advertising areas.
  • Use caution when posting. Information posted is not anonymous and is subject to libel, slander, off-label promotion and antitrust laws.
  • All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited and are subject to removal.
  • Comments/posts in the Online Community are NOT anonymous. Do not post anything in this community that you would not want the world to see, or that you would not want anyone to know came from you. Content on the Wiki is accessible to the general public but only members have edit/creation access. Contributors are identifiable only by name, no contact information is provided to the public.
  • Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding copyright ownership of information posted to the community tools.
  • By using the Online Community you grant ACRP the unlimited right to use and reproduce content contributed to the public sections of the community.
  • Do not post copyrighted material without permission (permissions should be included in the post).
  • You agree that you shall not use the site in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the site or any of its services.  

Disclaimer and Legal Rules

This Online Community is provided as a service of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. The information contained within this site is contributed by members of the Association with minimal oversight by Association staff. ACRP accepts no responsibility for accuracy of information posted on this site by others. ACRP disclaims all representations and warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by ACRP or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall ACRP be liable for special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from unavailability of the site, loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants ACRP the nonexclusive, royalty-free right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Content items must not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or indirectly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another’s business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

ACRP does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to ACRP’s attention, ACRP will take all appropriate action.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we do have the right (but not the obligation), in our sole discretion and for any reason, to prescreen, edit, refuse to accept, remove, or move any such content. Reliance on any information contained on the site is solely at your own risk. ACRP reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Copyright

All information posted on this site is subject to copyrights owned by ACRP and other individuals or entities. Any reproduction, retransmission, or republication of all or part of any document or discussion found on this Online Community is expressly prohibited, unless ACRP or the copyright owner of the material has expressly granted its prior written consent to so reproduce, retransmit, or republish the material. All other rights are reserved.

The names, trademarks, service marks and logos of ACRP appearing on the Online Community may not be used in any advertising or publicity, or otherwise to indicate ACRP’s sponsorship of or affiliation with any product or service, without ACRP’s prior express written permission.

ACRP is providing information and services on the Online Community as a benefit and service in furtherance of ACRP’s nonprofit and tax-exempt status. ACRP makes no representations about the suitability of this information and these services for any purpose.

Modifications to this Code of Conduct

From time to time, in our sole discretion, we may make changes to this Code of Conduct by updating this posting on the Online Community. At such time, we will specify the effective date of the new version of the Code of Conduct. Your continued use of the Online Community following the posting of a new version of the Code of Conduct constitutes your acceptance of the new version of the Code of Conduct, including all changes thereto. 

Submissions

ACRP always welcomes suggestions and comments regarding the Online Community and/or the services we provide. Any comments, creative ideas or suggestions (collectively, “Submission(s)”) submitted to ACRP or the Online Community, either online or offline, will become ACRP’s property upon their submission. This policy is intended to avoid the possibility of future misunderstandings when projects developed by ACRP might seem to others to be similar to their own submissions or comments.

By making a Submission to ACRP, you represent and warrant that you or the owner of all rights to such content has expressly granted ACRP an irrevocable world-wide right in all languages and in perpetuity to use and exploit all or any part of the Submission provided by you. Such Submission shall be deemed, and shall remain, the exclusive property of ACRP. No Submission shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of ACRP, and ACRP shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Submissions.

ACRP shall be entitled to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, license, create derivative works from and distribute such material or incorporate such Submissions into any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed throughout the universe, for any purpose whatsoever – commercial or otherwise – without compensation to those who provide the Submissions.

DMCA Policy (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)

If you are notifying ACRP of alleged copyright infringement, please provide the following information in the form required by 17 U.S.C. § 512:

  1. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you such as your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
  2. A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyright works are covered by single notification, a representative list of such works;
  3. The exact URL or a description reasonably sufficient for ACRP to locate the alleged infringing material;
  4. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  5. An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest; and
  6. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized agent to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.  

By this notice, ACRP seeks to preserve any and all exemptions from liability that may be available under copyright law, but does not necessarily stipulate that it is a service provider as defined in 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) or elsewhere in the laws of the United States of America or any state or territory within the United States of America. Please provide this notice to the following Designated Agent for Notification of Claimed Copyright Infringement:
NAME: ACRP
ADDRESS: 99 Canal Center Plaza, Ste 150, Alexandria, VA 22314
E-MAIL: support@acrpnet.org
TELEPHONE: (703) 254-8100
FAX: (703) 254-8101

This Code of Conduct is valid and effective from: December 1, 2008.

Adapted with permission from the American Society of Association Executives. Copyright 2003, American Society of Association Executives.