After careful consideration we have made the decision to postpone the Editors’ Symposium 2020, scheduled for 22–24 February in London.
We are working to ensure that Editorial Board meetings are rescheduled for a later date and will update board members in due course.
As the world continues to deal with the new coronavirus we are aware that the issue is creating a number of uncertainties around potential travel disruption and health risks. Given that the event is soon to take place, we are taking clear action now to remove any uncertainty regarding delegates’ plans for the coming weeks.
We are postponing the Editors’ Symposium for the following reasons:
- We do not know the direction that the coronavirus outbreak will take. The World Health Organization has declared the virus a global health emergency, and the first cases in the UK have now been confirmed. With people travelling from all over the world we do not want to take any risks, for example, with regards to potential disruption and delegates facing challenges returning home.
- The very essence of the Editors’ Symposium is to bring people together face-to-face to spark ideas and collaborate. A significant number of delegates were planning to travel in from China. The Chinese authorities have encouraged citizens to reconsider the timing of overseas travel to reduce cross-border movement. The Editors’ Symposium would not be the same event without our Chinese friends, colleagues and partners who make such a large contribution to our work.
- The wellbeing of everyone attending any of our events is our number one priority. While the Editors’ Symposium is important to us, we believe that a postponement is the most sensible approach at the current time.
We are grateful for the commitment our editors, board members and international colleagues make to the RSC and to this event in particular. We understand that this decision will cause inconvenience and we have committed to reimbursing symposium-related expenses.
We will update this page with any relevant information as the situation evolves.
Update 17th February 2020
- We are looking to arrange many of the Editorial Board meetings as a teleconference call to discuss editorial strategy and development based on the agenda items we had been working on.
- We will reimburse the costs of travel to/from London as previously agreed, if you are unable to get a refund from your airline. We will cover any additional cancellation charges on your flights.
- For any queries about rescheduling of board meeting, or reimbursement of Editors’ Symposium travel expenses, please contact your editorial team directly.
