Statutes of the
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)

March, 2025

Article 1

Official Name

1.1      The official name is the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, abbreviated as ICTV.

Article 2

Status

2.1      The ICTV is a committee of the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS).

Article 3

Objectives

The objectives of the ICTV shall be for public benefit and, in particular, advancement of knowledge and education in virus taxonomy. They are:

3.1      to develop an internationally agreed-upon taxonomy for certain mobile genetic elements (MGEs), hereafter collectively termed  “viruses” if not otherwise specified);

3.2      to establish internationally agreed-upon names for virus taxa;

3.3      to communicate the decisions reached concerning the classification of viruses and nomenclature of virus taxa to virologists by holding meetings and publishing reports; and

3.4      to maintain an official index of approved names for virus taxa.

Article 4

Membership

4.1      The membership of the ICTV shall include:

  1. Executive Committee (EC) Members;
  2. National Members;
  3. Life Members; and
  4. Members of the Virus Subcommittees (SCs) of the EC.

4.2      The EC shall have 23 members representing the diversity of virologists in expertise, geography, and demography. Membership shall include:

  1. Officers, namely President, Vice-President, and Secretaries;
  2. Virus SC Chairs; and
  3. Elected Members.

4.3      Positions on the ICTV, the EC, and the Virus SCs shall be filled using the following procedures:

  1. Recommendations for officers and Elected Members may be made by any virologist to the Nominations Subcommittee of the EC no earlier than 180 days and no later than 60 days before the ICTV Plenary Meeting. The Nominations SC shall comprise the President (Chair), Vice-President, Secretaries, and Virus SC Chairs and shall require a quorum consisting of the President or Vice-President and six other members. All recommendations shall be accompanied by a brief biographical sketch and an indication that the person is willing to stand for election. The Nominations SC shall agree on a list of nominees from among those recommended and may also add its own nominees. This list shall be published on the ICTV website. The officers shall organize a ballot, no later than four weeks before the Plenary Meeting, for the purpose of voting, which may include run-off elections, by the full ICTV membership. Results shall be published on the ICTV website no later than one week before the same Plenary Meeting.
  2. President and Vice-President shall be elected by a vote of the full ICTV membership. They shall be elected for a term of three years and may not serve for more than two terms in the same position.
  3. Three Secretaries (Business, Data, and Proposals) shall be elected by a vote of the full ICTV membership. They shall be elected for a term of six years and may be re-elected.
  4. Elected Members shall be elected by a vote of the full ICTV membership. They shall be elected for a term of three years and may not serve for more than two terms.
  5. Virus SC Chairs shall be elected by a vote of the EC, normally at a meeting preceding the Plenary Meeting. Nominations shall be made to the President and shall be accompanied by an indication that the person is willing to stand for election. Virus SC Chairs shall be elected for three years and may not serve for more than two terms in the same position.
  6. The total number of Elected Members and Virus SC Chairs shall be 18, with the number in each category determined by the EC.
  7. No person shall serve on the EC for more than four complete terms, other than as officers, subject to the limitations set out in Articles 4.3.2 and 4.3.3.
  8. The EC shall fill positions that are vacant because of resignation, inability to serve, or a failure to carry out the requirements of appointment. Such an interim appointment shall end at the following Plenary Meeting, and time served shall not count towards term limits.
  9. National Members shall be nominated by Member Societies of the Virology Division of the IUMS. Societies belonging to the IUMS are considered to be Member Societies of the Division if they have members actively interested in virology. Whenever possible, each country shall be represented by at least one National Member, and no country shall be represented by more than two National Members. Nominations of virologists as National Members shall not require approval by the ICTV. However, it is the responsibility of a Member Society to inform the ICTV Business Secretary in writing of the selection of its National Member before the Plenary Meeting. National Members shall be appointed for a term of three years following the Plenary Meeting. There is no limit to the number of terms that a National Member may serve, but their appointment should be formally reviewed by the appointing National Society every three years.
  10. Life Members shall be nominated by the EC, normally in recognition of outstanding services to virus taxonomy. Currently serving EC Members shall not be eligible for election. Life Members shall be elected by a vote of the full ICTV membership.
  11. Virus SC members shall be appointed by the Virus SC Chairs and shall not require further approval. These shall include ex officio, all ICTV Study Group Chairs (see Article 4.5).

4.4      The Finance SC of the EC shall consist of the officers and the Treasurer and shall be chaired by the President. The President shall replace any officer who cannot serve for good reason by another EC Member. The Treasurer shall be an EC Member appointed by the Finance SC to administer any funds that may be allocated to the ICTV by the Virology Division of the IUMS or other sources.

4.5      Study Groups shall be formed by the Virus SC Chairs. The purpose of Study Groups is to examine the classification of particular groups of viruses and the nomenclature of taxa. Study Group Chairs shall be Virus SC Members. Each Study Group Chair shall appoint Study Group Members. Study Group Members, other than those who are Study Group Chairs or ICTV Members in other capacities, shall not be ICTV Members, but their names shall be published on the ICTV website to recognize their valuable contribution to virus taxonomy. Study Group Chairs and other Study Group Members shall be appointed as soon as possible after the Plenary Meeting and shall serve until the next Plenary Meeting, which is normally three years later.

Article 5

Meetings

5.1      The EC shall have an annual, in person meeting, held in a location to be defined during the previous meeting and preferably during the Northern Hemisphere summer, during which Taxonomy Proposals are discussed and voted on, and other taxonomy-related issues are discussed.

5.2      Plenary Meetings of the full ICTV membership shall be held every three years. In the years when it coincides with the International Congress of Virology (ICV), organized by the IUMS, the Plenary Meeting shall be held in conjunction with the ICV. Otherwise, the Plenary Meeting shall be held online, no later than two months after the annual EC meeting.

Article 6

Taxonomic Proposals

6.1      Taxonomic proposals may be initiated by an individual ICTV member, a Virus Study Group, or a Virus SC. In addition, anyone may submit a taxonomic proposal or suggestion to the appropriate Virus SC Chair(s) using the following procedures:

1.    Proposals shall be sent to the appropriate Virus SC Chair for consideration by that Virus SC and the appropriate Study Group(s). These proposals shall also be sent for consideration to all Study Groups and Virus SCs whose interests might be affected by the taxonomic or nomenclatural changes proposed. Following analysis by the Study Groups, the proposals are returned to the SC Chair, who forwards them to the Proposals Secretary.

2.    Proposals of a general nature shall be sent to the ICTV President, who shall forward them to the Proposals Secretary.

3.    The Proposals Secretary shall publicly post all proposals on the ICTV website in advance of the annual EC meeting and will also forward them to each EC Member prior to the meeting.

4.    Proposals approved by the EC shall be published on the ICTV website and presented for ratification to the full ICTV membership by a ballot organized by the Business Secretary.

Article 7

Voting

7.1      Proposals for changes to taxonomy, nomenclature, the ICTV Code (see Article 8) or the ICTV Statutes shall be voted on in two stages: (1) the EC shall vote either at its annual meeting or by a ballot organized by the officers on whether a proposal shall be presented to the ICTV for ratification as specified by Article 6.1, and (2) the full membership of the ICTV shall decide whether to ratify a proposal either at a Plenary Meeting or by a ballot organized by the officers. EC decisions shall be made by a simple majority of members voting. A quorum shall consist of the President or Vice-President, one Secretary, and nine other EC Members. Changes to the ICTV Statutes shall require the additional approval of the Virology Division of the IUMS (see Article 11).

7.2      Decisions of the full membership of the ICTV (see Article 4.1) shall be taken by a simple majority of those who are eligible to vote and are either present at a Plenary Meeting or reply to a scheduled vote within one month of a ballot being circulated. A quorum shall consist of the President or Vice-President and 18 other members. No member may vote more than once on any particular proposal. In the event of a tied vote, the proposal shall not be approved.

7.3      Matters of EC business not directly concerned with changes to taxonomy, nomenclature, the ICTV Code, or the ICTV Statutes may be decided by consensus under the President's oversight. Any EC Member may call for a vote on such matters.

Article 8

The International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature (ICVCN; the ICTV Code)

8.1      Classification and nomenclature of viruses and related agents shall be subject to rules formalized in the ICTV Code. The ICTV Code and substantive modifications to it are subject to the approval of the EC and the full membership of the ICTV (see Article 7).

Article 9

Duties of EC Members

9.1      The duties of the President shall be:

  1. to preside at EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings;
  2. with the Secretaries, to prepare the agendas for EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings; and
  3. to act as Virus SC Chair for proposals of a broad or general nature, or to delegate this duty within the EC.

9.2      The duties of the Vice-President shall be:

  1. to carry out the duties of the President in the absence of the President;
  2. to attend EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings; and
  3. to act as editor-in-chief for the ICTV Report.

9.3      The duties of the Business Secretary shall be:

  1. to attend EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings;
  2. with the President, to prepare the agendas for EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings;
  3. to prepare minutes of EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings and ensure their timely publication on the ICTV website;
  4. to organize the ratification vote on proposals approved by the EC; and
  5. to keep an up-to-date record of the ICTV membership.

9.4      The duties of the Proposals Secretary shall be:

1.   to attend EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings; and

2.   to manage the submission and processing of taxonomic proposals.

9.5      The duties of the Data Secretary shall be:

1.   to attend EC Meetings and Plenary Meetings; and

2. to maintain the ICTV website and associated databases, providing up-to-date information on virus taxonomy, ICTV activities and membership, and the ICTV Report.

9.6      The duties of Virus SC Chairs shall be:

  1. to attend EC Meetings;
  2. to appoint Virus SC Members;
  3. to appoint Study Group Chairs;
  4. to organize the Virus SCs and Study Groups to study taxonomic problems and bring forward proposals;
  5. to present taxonomic proposals to the EC for voting;
  6. to co-ordinate the preparation of updates of the ICTV Report; and
  7. to ensure the presentation at the Plenary Meeting of taxonomic changes implemented since the preceding Plenary Meeting.

9.7      The duties of Elected Members shall be:

  1. to contribute specialist input to EC discussions, in particular on subjects unfamiliar to Virus SC Chairs;
  2. when appropriate, at the request of a Virus SC Chair and with the approval of the EC, to act as Virus SC Deputy Chairs and assist Virus SC Chairs in reviewing taxonomic proposals and presenting them to the EC;
  3. to promote ICTV activities in diverse forums; and
  4. to take on ad hoc tasks as requested by the President.

Article 10

Publications

10.1    Changes to taxonomy, nomenclature, the ICTV Code, or the ICTV Statutes shall be published in the scientific literature and as part of the ICTV website.

10.2    A public database of ICTV taxonomic information shall be maintained and published by the Data Secretary.

10.3    No ICTV publication shall bear any indication of sponsorship by a commercial agency or institution connected in any way with a commercial company, unless approved by the EC (which shall be handled on a case-by-case basis).

10.4    Publications shall bear the name of the ICTV or use the ICTV logo only if all the content therein has been authorized, prepared, or edited by the ICTV or an ICTV committee or Virus SC.

10.5    Publications containing translations of ICTV publications shall bear the name of the ICTV or use the ICTV logo only if all information contained therein has been authorized, prepared, or edited by the ICTV or an ICTV committee or Virus SC.

Article 11

Disposition of Funds

11.1    In the event of dissolution of the ICTV, any remaining funds shall be turned over to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Virology Division of the IUMS.

11.2    Any surplus assets or funds must be used for the charitable purposes set out under Article 3 or for purposes that are charitable within the context of Section 505 of the United Kingdom Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (or statutory re-enactment thereof).

Article 12

Legal Seat

12.1    The ICTV shall have its legal seat where the office of the President is located.