The Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology: Rules of the Society

(Name)
Clause 1. The Society shall be known as The Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology.

(Aim)
Clause 2. The Society's aims are to encourage the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases and maintenance of skin health, to increase the value of dermatology-related institutions in the interdisciplinary society, improve the quality of dermatology and bioscience and to present research findings.

(Activities)
Clause 3. The Society shall carry out the following activities to achieve the previously mentioned aims.

Academic conferences and other meetings.
○Requirements concerning other meetings shall be specified separately.
Publication of an academic journal
Associating with related domestic/foreign academic institutions
Activities required for achieving other aims of the Society.
○Requirements related to individual projects shall be specified separately.

(Members)
Clause 4. Those who are engaged in research of skin and other related diseases or who are interested in this field and agree with the aims of the Society shall become members after completing the membership application process. The membership fee shall be specified separately.

Regular membership: Individuals who are Japanese citizens and pay the membership fee.
Overseas membership: Individuals who are residents of countries other than Japan and pay the membership fee.
Supporting membership: Organizations who agree with the aims of the Society and are able to pay the annual supporting membership fee on an ongoing basis.
Honorary membership: Persons who are nominated by the Committee on Nominations at a Board of Directors meeting and pursuant to discussion of their qualifications are elected via the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly. No membership fee shall be required.

Those whose membership fees are delinquent for a period of 2 years and who do not respond to reminders shall have their membership privileges revoked.

(Officers and Directors)
Clause 5. The Society shall be comprised of the following Officers and Directors. The Board of Directors shall be comprised of members less than 60 years old at the time of election. There will be some members of the Board of Directors who are younger than 45 years old. When the Directors become 60 years old, or 45 years old in the case of younger members, their term shall expire at the next regular General Assembly.

The number of members of the Board of Directors shall be approximately 1.5% of the total number of members
○Members of the Board of Directors shall be selected informally at a meeting of the Board of Directors from the Councilors nominated by the Committee on Nominations, and approved by the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly.
○The qualifications of the members of the Board of Directors shall be specified separately.
○The term of membership in the Board of Directors shall be 5 years; the term of those members specified to be under 45 years old shall be 3 years. Members are elected annually to fill vacant posts. Successive reelection is not allowed.
○The Board of Directors shall elect one Chairman from the members of the Board of Directors or the members who have been Directors specified to be under 60 years old, one Secretary-General and one Treasurer. They shall be approved by the Councilor's Meeting and General Assembly.
○When Directors become 60 years old, or 45 years old in the case of younger members, their term shall expire at the next regular General Assembly.
○The Chairman and the Treasurer shall serve a 3-year term, and the Secretary-General shall serve a 5-year term. Reelection for these positions is not allowed.
○The Board of Directors shall elect one Editor-in-Chief from the members of the Board of Directors or former Directors. The Editor-in-Chief shall belong to University at the time of election. The term shall be 5 years. Reelection is not allowed.
○The Chairman of the Board of Directors will chair the Board of Directors meetings, representing the Society.
○The Chairman shall call meetings of the Board of Directors as required, or when requested by 1/3 or more of the members comprising the Board of Directors. Important matters of the Society shall be discussed and the Society's business shall be executed.
○The Secretary-General shall assist the Chairman in discussions with representatives of foreign institutions.
○Board of Directors meetings shall be attended by the Chairman, Secretary-General, Treasurer, Editor-in-Chief, President and President-Elect.
○Board of Directors meetings shall be held with 2/3 or more of the constituent members attending, including proxies, and decisions shall be approved by a majority of attendees.
Deputy Secretary-General (number to be determined)
○Deputy Secretaries-General shall be selected from among the regular membership (hereinafter referred to as “members”) by the Board of Directors to assist the Chairman as the need arises for the required period of time. They shall be approved by the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly.
Auditors (2)
○Auditors shall be selected from members nominated by the Committee on Nominations, determined informally at a Board of Directors meeting, and finalized by the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly.
○Auditors shall serve a 2-year term; one Auditor shall be selected annually. Reelection is not allowed.
○Auditors shall audit the business records and assets of the Society.
○The qualifications for serving as an Auditor shall be specified separately.
The number of Councilors shall be approximately 10% of the total number of members
○Councilors shall be nominated from among the members by the Committee on Nominations, determined informally at Board of Directors meetings, and then finalized via the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly.
○The qualifications for serving as a Councilor shall be specified separately.
○Councilors shall serve a 3-year term.
○Councilors organize the Councilor's Meeting and hold discussions on the business reports, business plans, balance settlement and budgets that are presented by the Board of Directors and other issues submitted to the General Assembly, at the request of the Board of Directors.
○The Councilor's Meeting has the right to determine the President-Elect for a future annual meeting three years in advance. The Board of Directors shall select 1 member from 6 or more members nominated by the Committee on Scientific Activities, and the candidate shall then be approved by those attending the Councilor's Meeting.
○The Chairman of the Councilor's Meeting shall be elected by mutual vote each time a meeting is held.
○The Chairman of the Board of Directors must summon the Councilor's Meeting when so requested by 1/3 or more of the Councilors.
○The Councilor's Meeting shall offer opinions when it is deemed necessary.
○The Councilor's Meeting shall be able to be held with 1/2 or more Councilor members attending, including proxies, and a Chairman shall be selected as the meeting is held. The Chairman expedites the proceedings and decisions shall be approved by the agreement of the attendees.
President, President-Elect (1 each)
○The Councilor's Meeting has the right to determine the President-Elect for a future annual meeting three years in advance. The Board of Directors shall select 1 member from 6 or more members nominated by the Committee on Scientific Activities, and the candidate shall then be approved by those attending the Councilor's Meeting.
(Same as Clause 5-4)
○The President shall host the annual academic conference.
○The term of the President and President-Elect shall be 1 year.

(Committees)
Clause 6. The Society shall be comprised of the following committees. The members of the Committee on Finances, Committee on Publications (editors), Committee on Scientific Activities and Committee on Nominations shall be nominated by the Committee on Nominations and determined informally at a Board of Directors meeting, then approved via the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly. The term of these members shall not be restricted by the term of the Board of Directors and Councilors. Members are added in cases when there is a lack of members, and the term for the additionally selected members shall be equivalent to the period remaining to the former members.

Committee on Finances
○The Committee on Finances consists of a Treasurer and a few members from the Board of Directors or Councilors. The term of the members from the Board of Directors and the Councilors shall be 3 years.
○The Committee on Finances shall be in charge of the Society's budget and make decisions in order to efficiently manage it.
Committee on Publications
○The Committee on Publications consists of an Editor-in-Chief, a few members from the Board of Directors or Councilors or those who have held these positions in the past, and Editors, including a few foreign members, and Associate Editors assigned by the Committee on Publications. The term of the Japanese Editors shall be 3 years, and that of the foreign Editors and the Associate Editors shall be individually determined.
○The Committee on Publications shall conduct operations related to the journal's editing, publication, etc.
Committee on Scientific Activities
The Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Activities shall be selected by mutual vote.
If the Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Activities is re-elected as Chairman during the third year of his/her term, the term shall be extended to 4 years.
Committee on Nominations
○The Committee on Nominations consists of a total of 6 members including 3 current or former members of the Board of Directors and 3 Councilors. One committee member shall be selected annually from the members of both the Board of Directors and Councilors, or those who have held these positions in the past, and their term shall be 3 years. Reelection shall not be allowed. When there are changes during their term (when councilors who have become committee members are installed as members of the Board of Directors; members of the Board of Directors who have become committee members and had their term on the Board of Directors terminated), the former positions shall be reinstated when new committee members are nominated after their 3-year term expires.
○The Chairman of the Committee on Nominations shall be selected by mutual vote.
○The Committee on Nominations shall nominate approximately double the number of the fixed number of members for the Board of Directors, Auditors, Councilors, Committee on Finance, Committee on Publications, Committee on Academic Meetings, Committee on Nominations and Committee on Scientific Activities, and generally 3 members for the position of Editor-in-Chief. Nominees for honorary memberships shall be submitted to the Board of Directors.
○The qualifications for honorary membership shall be specified separately.

(Meetings)
Clause 7. The Chairman of the Board of Directors shall annually summon the regular General Assembly.

○The Chairman of the Board of Directors shall be able to summon an emergency General Assembly, when it is deemed necessary by the Board of Directors.
○The Chairman of the Board of Directors must summon the Board of Directors immediately when required for the Auditors to perform their duties.
○The Chairman of the Board of Directors must summon the General Assembly immediately when requested by 1/5 of the Society's members or 1/3 or more of the Councilors.
○The Chairman of the General Assembly shall be selected during a meeting by mutual vote of the members attending, other than the Board of Directors.
○A summons of the General Assembly shall be announced 14 days in advance, with the issues to be discussed at the meeting, and the date and location specified in writing.
○The General Assembly shall not be able to open the proceedings and reach decisions without at least 1/4 of the members in attendance. Members who have declared their intentions in writing in advance and proxies who are authorized to vote on behalf of absent members shall be considered to be attendees. Decisions shall be approved by agreement of a majority of the attendees.
○The minutes shall be witnessed by a total of two members including the Chairman of the General Assembly and one member designated by the Chairman.

(Fiscal Year)
Clause 8. The Society's expenses shall be paid by membership and other fees. The fiscal year is from July 1st to June 30th of the following year.

(Changing Rules)
Clause 9. Revisions to the rules of the Society shall be subject to a vote by the Board of Directors, and approved by the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly.

(Head Office)
Clause 10. The Society has a Head Office to carry out all official works of the Society.

Supplementary Provisions

The Board of Directors shall determine the membership fees, with the approval of the Councilor's Meeting and General Assembly.
The Head Office of the Society shall generally correspond to the location of the Secretary-General's practice.
The current rules of the Society were issued after the General Assembly in 1987, and the transition to the new rules was executed smoothly in deference to the former rules.
The rules were partially revised on November 10, 1989 (14th General Assembly).
The rules were partially revised on September 7, 1995 (20th General Assembly).
The internal operating rules were added on July 26, 1996 (21st General Assembly).
The rules were partially revised on September 4, 1997 (22nd General Assembly).
The rules were partially revised on December 2, 2010 (35th General Assembly).
The rules were partially revised on December 8, 2011 (36th General Assembly).

Internal Operating Rules

1. Clause 3-1: JSID Forum
The Society shall hold the JSID Forum, accompanying the annual academic conference, in order to provide motivation for junior members and promote close exchange between dermatologists and other members. The President of the academic conference shall determine whether to hold the Forum. The Forum shall be carried out based on the following considerations.

It shall be designed to encourage and develop junior academics.
It shall promote exchange of research between dermatologists and other members.
The President of the annual academic conference shall oversee the Forum.
The topic shall be determined by the President and shall be of a high level and investigative in nature, considering the intent of the Board of Directors.
The President shall determine a location and run the Forum so that it is not financially burdensome.
The scale shall preferably be small. (100 or fewer participants)
The contents of lectures shall be requested to be posted to JDS.

2. Clause 3-4
The Society shall carry out the following activities, based on Clause 3-4.

(a) Tanioku Kihei Memorial Lecture and Fund Establishment

<Purpose>
This memorial lecture was established in honor of the late Kihei Tanioku, professor emeritus of Okayama University, who aided in the Society's founding. The lecture aims at furthering the international development of the Society.
<Criteria for selection of the lecturer>
The lecturer shall be selected by the President, the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Secretary-General, and the Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Activities based on the following criteria, and approved at a Board of Directors meeting.

A person who has made notable achievements in the field of dermatology or another area closely related to dermatology.
A person whose achievements have been recognized internationally.
The nationality of candidates is not considered.

<Fund management>
The Tanioku Kihei Memorial Lecture was established through contributions from dermatologists from Okayama University. The fund is operated by the current Chairman of the Board of Directors, and held and managed by the Society's Head Office. 500,000 yen is paid from this fund for each lecture. The future management method of the fund shall be considered by the Board of Directors.

(b) Diploma of Dermatological Scientist

<Purpose>
The program aims to develop and support foreign students.
<Qualifications>

Applicants must be JSID members
Have 6 or more months of research experience in Japan.
Engage in dermatology-related research at a domestic research facility, with the following conditions:
(1) The research must be presented at JSID. The presentation methods shall include joint presentation and exhibition.
(2) The applicant must be the primary author of at least one article, which was published in JSD or a similar publication.
3 or more years must have passed after graduation from university and applying for the program (whether the applicant majored in a medical field of study is not considered).
Eligibility shall be able to be considered to date from the founding of JSID.

The applicant's supervisor shall apply to the Head Office with a letter of recommendation.
The Committee on Scientific Activities shall hold an examination.
Qualified students shall be determined via the Councilor's Meeting and the General Assembly, who will later announce their selections.

(c) JSID's Fellowship Shiseido Award

Applicants will be screened based upon requirements to be published separately. The Selection Committee shall be comprised of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Secretary-General, Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Activities, and 2 (or more) representatives of Shiseido Corporation.
The Chairman of the Selection Committee shall be selected by mutual vote.

(d) The Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology Award

<Purpose>
The JSID Award is given to motivate and inspire junior researchers.
<Conditions (Qualifications)>
The most notable researcher in Japan during the last 5 years, who meets the following conditions.

A member of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology (for 5 years or more)
Professors, or those holding an equivalent position when the selection is made, shall be excluded. The award winner shall give a plenary lecture at the annual JSID conference.

Each current or former member of the Board of Directors (excluding members in the under 45 category) shall make one nomination, specifying the reasons for their decision. The Committee on Scientific Activities shall be able to independently raise a few nominees.
Each nominee shall submit their research achievements (papers and a list of their JSID academic conference presentations) to the Committee on Scientific Activities.
At a Board of Directors meeting, the Committee on Scientific Activities shall recommend a few nominees considering their academic achievements.
One final nominee shall be selected by vote of the Board of Directors.
In the case of collaborative works, the application materials shall be submitted in a form that makes clear the identities of the primary and secondary authors.

When members of the Committee on Scientific Activities become nominees, they shall not be able to participate in the JSID Award selection that is held by the Committee on Scientific Activities.
When members of the Board of Directors (including junior members) become nominees, they shall not be able to participate in the JSID Award selection that is held by the Committee on Scientific Activities.
The nominees and their supervisors shall abandon their rights to vote when selection is held at Board of Directors meetings.
The nominee who receives the highest number of votes shall be the winner of the award; a revote shall be conducted when nominees receive an equal number of votes.

3. Clause 5-1: Board of Directors
Any of the following criteria must be met to be eligible to become a member of the Board of Directors.

Professors with 50 or more impact factor points, including collaborative works.
Researchers, other than professors, who have published 20 or more articles in English (including collaborations) and are the primary author of at least 10 of the works, and with a qualification equivalent to 50 or more impact factor points, including collaborative works.
Researchers working in the private sector may become members of the Board of Directors.

4. Clause 5-1: Board of Directors (under 45 years old)

Councilors must meet any of the following criteria to be eligible to become under 45-year-old members of the Board of Directors.
a. Be under 45 years old, excluding professors.
b. Be primary author of 10 or more articles in English and have 30 or more impact factor points, including collaborative works.
Board of Directors members under 45 years old shall serve for a term of 3 years; reelection is not allowed.
When members become 45 years old during the term, the term shall expire at the next General Assembly after their birthday.

5. Clause 5-3: Auditors
The qualifications to hold the position of Auditor shall be as follows.

Must be selected from the members other than the Board of Directors.
When councilors are selected to serve as Auditors, their qualification as Councilors shall be suspended while they serve as Auditors; if they still qualify as Councilors after their term as Auditors terminates, their Councilor’s positions shall be restored, bypassing the Committee on Nominations.

6. Clause 5-4: Councilors
The qualifications to hold the position of Councilor shall be as follows.

Reappointment shall be accepted following the corresponding members’ intentions and based on their past activities, without further selection procedures.
Newly appointed Councilors must meet any of the following criteria.
a. Hold the position of Professor
b. Be a dermatologist recognized as a certain level of researcher. 10 or more representative articles in English and 5 keywords of their research must be submitted for the deliberations. The nomination methods include i) public announcement in the JDS journal (recommendations from 2 Councilors are required); ii) nomination by the Board of Directors or a person in charge of nominations.
Members other than dermatologists shall submit recommendation of 2 or more members of the Board of Directors, generally with a list of articles similar to that for dermatologist.

Supplementary provisions:

A total of 20 or more impact factor points are required from 10 or more representative articles in English, including collaborative works. The nominee shall preferably be the primary author of the research of 5 or more of the articles. The Committee on Nominations will determine whether to accept articles as being related to the nominee's research.
The above criteria shall also be applied when nominating members holding the position of professor.
Members must be under 65 years old.
Acceptance of Councilor applications shall be publicly announced in every edition of the JDS journal, and applications shall be accepted throughout the year at the Head Office.

7. Clause 6-4.
The qualifications for honorary members shall be as follows.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors shall become an honorary member upon reaching the age of 65, and after resigning as Chairman. If the Chairman wishes to become an honorary member after resigning, but before reaching the age of 65, such a request shall be granted at the appropriate time.
Members who have served as President and are 65 years old or older shall automatically become an honorary member after resigning from the position.
Other members who have made noteworthy contributions to the Society shall be considered at Board of Directors meetings.

8. Supplementary provisions
(a) Exploratory Committee
The Exploratory Committee shall be an informal committee organized by the Board of Directors. The members of the committee shall be selected by the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the committee shall be dismissed when the Chairman resigns.
(b) Roles of the Committee on Scientific Activities

Selecting 6 nominees for President of the annual academic conference.
a. The nominees are generally determined by the votes of each member of the Committee on Scientific Activities (6 nominees shall be raised per member)
b. Qualifications of the President
1. Members of the Board of Directors, or those having previously held that position.
2. Members who belong to a university department or equivalent institutions.
Reviewing abstracts in the Program Committee for the annual academic conference and carrying out the following duties.
a. Appointing abstract reviewers.
Making plenary/oral determination and participating in creation of the program.
Selecting a JSID Award winner
Selecting members for the Diploma of Dermatological Scientist.
Selecting the JSID's Fellowship Shiseido Award winner
(The selection committee is comprised of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Secretary-General, Chairman of the Committee on Scientific Activities and a representative of Shiseido.)

(c) Abstract review system
The system shall be in place for 3 years starting in 2000.

About selecting reviewers
Reviewer shall be selected by the President of the Committee on Scientific Activities and the President of the Society.
b. Each section shall generally be comprised of a total of 5 members including the Board of Directors and Councilors.
c. There are 4 sections including (1) Immunology/Allergy, (2) Keratinocyte cell biology, (3) non-keratinocyte cell biology and (4) Photobiology/Bullous diseases/Apoptosis, Tumor Biology/Others. These sectional divisions shall be subject to change, in accordance with current trends.
About allocation of grades
a. The following criteria shall be utilized for allocating grades:

Absolute Plenary 10 5%

Probable Plenary 9 5%

Borderline Plenary 8 5%

Absolute Oral 7 5%

Probable Oral 6 10%

Borderline Oral 5 10%

Poster 4 60%

b. Each reviewer shall grade independently and the average will then be calculated.

(Created in January 2002)