IFM: Eligibility Criteria

Appropriate organizations must have an identifiable membership of mammalogists, usually with voting powers to elect officers or members of a governing body (board of directors, council, executive committee). In some cases, more inclusive organizations may be eligible, as long as they contain an identifiable portion of mammalogists.
Such organizations should have a recognizable governing structure with responsible officers that are subject to periodic change or turnover.
Regular, usually annual, general membership meetings are held.
There should be evidence that the primary purpose of the organization, or some subsection of that organization, is the pursuit of the science of mammalogy (theriology). Usually this would take the form of a journal or newsletter supportive of this objective, and/or a regular forum for presentation of research results.
Member organizations should have at least 50 member mammalogists, although exceptions can be made if a society is the sole representative of a country or large region.
While the Federation recognizes that overlap in membership among mammalogical societies of the world is beneficial to our science in that it promotes communication and cooperation, it is also sensitive to the fact that extensive overlap can compromise fair representation on the Federation's Board of Directors. Therefore, the degree of overlap in membership between applicant societies and other organizations already members of the Federation needs to be taken into account in approving such applications. Generally, if the overlap is more than 50%, the application can be denied unless the applicant can argue successfully that the mission, activities, or emphasis on particular geographic regions or taxonomic groups of mammals are sufficiently different from other societies that the membership overlap does not compromise fair representation of mammalogists and their scientific activities on the IFM Board.