Community Discussion Etiquette

The ISMRM & ISMRT provide channels for discussion for members. These exist in the form of online forums, email listservs, virtual meeting chat rooms, blog comments, as well as community sites and social media, such as Slack, Discourse, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.

1. Etiquette for All Discussion Channels:

• Help Others & Be Patient
  You may have more experience with a certain topic—or online discussion forums in general—than the person next to you. Give them a hand and be constructive in your reply. They are really going to appreciate it!
• Don’t Be Repetitive or Redundant
  Read everything in a given discussion thread before replying. This will help you avoid repeating something someone else has already contributed. Acknowledge the points made with which you agree and suggest alternatives for those with which you do not.
• Be Brief
  Strive to be clear—and to articulate your point—without being preachy or pompous. Be direct. Stay on point and keep it simple.
• Respect Diversity
  This is an ethnically rich, diverse, multicultural world in which we live. Do not use language that is —or that could be construed to be—offensive toward others. Racist, sexist and heterosexist comments and jokes are unacceptable, as are derogatory and/or sarcastic comments and jokes directed at religious beliefs, disabilities and age.
• No YELLING!
  Using ALL-CAPS or lots of bold letters is bad form. It is often interpreted by others as aggressive or angry.
• Emojis, Emoticons & Text-Speak
  Social networking and text messaging has spawned a body of linguistic shortcuts that are not part of academic dialogue. Please refrain from emoticons, emoji and shortcuts like “c u l8r.”
• Always Cite Your Sources
  This one is a big must! If your contribution to a conversation includes the intellectual property (authored material) of others, e.g., books, newspaper, magazine or journal articles—online or in print—they must be given proper attribution.
• Report Glitches
  Discussion forums are electronic; they can break. If you experience any difficulty participating in one of our discussion channels of any kind, please email info@ismrm.org and give a thorough description of the problem. Chances are others are having the same problem, and we would like to fix it as soon as possible.
  • For problems on the Study Group forums (including flagrant or problematic posts), first contact the chair of the study group. You can also email us at studygroups@ismrm.org.

2. Do Not Post:

• Political messages that advocate a particular viewpoint, including links to articles and editorial pieces.
• Advertisements of products or services unless such product or service is specifically sponsored/endorsed by the ISMRM or otherwise approved by the ISMRM.
• Commercial messages, including, but not limited to, messages offering or seeking any kind of business relationship (including employment), soliciting contributions or soliciting membership or subscription to any resource not offered by the ISMRM.
• Corporate materials such as newsletters and related content generated by a company or other for-profit entity. Logos and tag lines used as part of a signature or otherwise included in an email posted to any discussion channel should be discrete and of a size, placement and description as normally used by the sender and should not be disproportionately large.
• Any message, data, information, text or other material (“Content”) that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, harassing, harmful, invasive of privacy, or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, threatening, offensive, vulgar or otherwise injurious to third parties, or that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, create any liability or violate any local, state, national, or international law or regulation. Users of the study group forums may be held individually liable for any communications they send through the group.
• Any content such as charity requests, petitions for signatures, other solicitations of group users, promotional materials, chain letters or letters relating to pyramid schemes, advertising or solicitations for funds, political campaigning, mass mailings, any form of unsolicited commercial or promotional email (spam) or an offering of any non-ISMRM goods, services, schemes or promotions.
• Any harmful content including, without limitation, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, zombies, cancel bots, or any other computer programming routines that may damage, interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or expropriate any system, program, data or personal information.

3. Disclaimer of Warranties and Other Disclaimers

• All materials, information, products and services (“Material”) included in or available through this site may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. ISMRM makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Material.
• Changes are periodically made to the discussion services and may be made at any time. ISMRM accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on these services by others.
• Your use of these services is solely at your own risk. ISMRM does not warrant that the services will operate error-free or that these services and their servers are free of computer viruses and other harmful goods. If your use of these services or the Material results in the need for servicing or replacing equipment or data, ISMRM is not responsible for those costs. The Materials are provided on an “as is” basis without any warranties of any kind.
• ISMRM, to the fullest extent of the law, disclaims all warranties, including the warranty or merchantability, non-infringement of third party rights and the warranty of fitness for particular purpose.
• ISMRM makes no warranties about the accuracy, reliability, completeness or timeliness of the Material, services, graphics and links or that any defects or errors will be corrected.

4. Limitation of Liability

• Under no circumstances shall ISMRM be liable for any lost profits, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, or any other damages whatsoever resulting from the content of these services or the use of, or inability to use, these services.
• This limitation applies to any alleged liability based on any legal theory including, but not limited to, contract, tort, negligence, warranty or strict liability, even if ISMRM has been advised of the possibility of such damage.
• Because some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, ISMRM’s liability in such jurisdiction shall be limited to the extent permitted by law.
• ISMRM reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to update or revise this page at any time. Notice of such changes will not be transmitted to anyone and will be located only here. Any revisions will become effective the first day immediately. If you post on discussion services after notice is received or if you fail to unsubscribe, then you will be deemed to have accepted the revised rules and are bound by them.

5. Right to Moderate Users

• ISMRM reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to moderate any user, with or without notice, for any reason including, but not limited to, your failure to abide by these terms and conditions of use.

6. Right to Terminate Access

• ISMRM monitors their sites & services for inappropriate postings. If notified by a user of these services that misconduct or bias or other behavior not conducive to open discussion has occurred, on behalf of the ISMRM Community, ISMRM may investigate the allegation and determine in its sole discretion to remove or request the removal of the member.
• ISMRM reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your access to these services, with or without notice, for any reason including, but not limited to, your failure to abide by these terms and conditions of use.
• Any discussion service member who has been terminated may petition for reinstatement after a waiting period of 12 months. ISMRM shall have sole discretion as to whether reinstatement is permitted, provided no legal action, threatened or real, or other threats or coercion has been brought against ISMRM, the member has not presented themselves falsely and they have not re-registered as a member other than themselves.

7. Indemnity

• You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless ISMRM, its officers, directors, employees, from and against any claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, alleging or resulting from your use of these services and/or material or your breach of the terms of this Agreement. ISMRM shall provide notice to you promptly of any such claim, suit, or proceeding and shall assist you, at your expense, in defending any such claim, suit or proceeding.