Editing Bogdanov affair (section)

{{short description|2002 French academic dispute}}
[[File:Présentation équipe DMBC, 10 septembre 2016 - 6.jpg|thumb|Igor Bogdanov (left) and Grichka Bogdanov (right) in 2016]]

The '''Bogdanov affair''' was an academic dispute over the legitimacy of the [[doctorate|doctoral]] degrees obtained by French twins [[Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff|Igor and Grichka Bogdanov]]<ref name="overbye"/> (usually spelled ''Bogdanoff'' in French language publications) and a series of [[theoretical physics]] papers written by them in order to obtain degrees. The papers were published in reputable [[scientific journal]]s, and were alleged by their authors to culminate in a theory for describing what occurred before and at the [[Big Bang]].

The controversy began in 2002, with an allegation that the twins, popular celebrities in France for hosting science-themed TV shows, had obtained PhDs with nonsensical work. Rumors spread on [[Usenet]] newsgroups that their work was a deliberate hoax intended to target weaknesses in the [[peer review]] system that physics journals use to select papers for publication. While the Bogdanov brothers continued to defend the legitimacy of their work, the debate over whether it represented a contribution to physics spread from Usenet to many other internet forums, eventually receiving coverage in the mainstream media. A [[Centre national de la recherche scientifique]] (CNRS) internal report later concluded that their theses had no scientific value.

The incident prompted criticism of the Bogdanovs' approach to [[science popularization]], led to a number of lawsuits, and provoked reflection among physicists as to how and why the peer review system can fail.