Editing Bogdanov affair (section)

===Pre- and post-publication official commentary on the journal articles===

In May 2001, the journal ''[[Classical and Quantum Gravity]]'' (CQG) reviewed an article authored by Igor and Grichka Bogdanov, titled "Topological theory of the initial singularity of spacetime". One of the referees' reports stated that the article was "Sound, original, and of interest. With revisions I expect the paper to be suitable for publication."<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Referee report for "Topological theory of the initial singularity of spacetime"
 | url = http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/bogdanoff/bogdanof3.pdf
 | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref> The paper was accepted by the journal seven months later.

However, after the publication of the article and the publicity surrounding the controversy, mathematician [[Greg Kuperberg]] posted to Usenet a statement written by the journal's senior publisher, Andrew Wray, and its co-editor, [[Hermann Nicolai]]. The statement read, in part,

<blockquote>Regrettably, despite the best efforts, the refereeing process cannot be 100% effective. Thus the paper ... made it through the review process even though, in retrospect, it does not meet the standards expected of articles in this journal... The paper was discussed extensively at the annual Editorial Board meeting ... and there was general agreement that it should not have been published. Since then several steps have been taken to further improve the peer review process in order to improve the quality assessment on articles submitted to the journal and reduce the likelihood that this could happen again.<ref>{{cite newsgroup
 | title = If not a hoax, it's still an embarrassment
 | last = Kuperberg
 | first = Greg
 | author-link = Greg Kuperberg
 | date = 2002-11-01
 | newsgroup = sci.physics.research
 |message-id= apu93q$2a2$1@conifold.math.ucdavis.edu
 | url = https://groups.google.com/group/sci.physics.research/msg/c1437787f7e9909c
 | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref></blockquote>

The paper in question was, however, not officially withdrawn by the journal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Grichka|last2=Bogdanov|first2=Igor|date=2001|title=Topological field theory of the initial singularity of spacetime*|journal=Classical and Quantum Gravity|language=en|volume=18|issue=21|pages=4341|doi=10.1088/0264-9381/18/21/301|issn=0264-9381|bibcode=2001CQGra..18.4341B|s2cid=250849581 }}</ref> Later, the editor-in-chief of the journal issued a slightly different statement on behalf of the [[Institute of Physics]], which owns the journal, in which he insisted on the fact that their usual peer-review procedures had been followed, but no longer commented on the value of the paper.{{efn|In particular the sentences "...it does not meet the standards expected of articles in this journal" and "The paper was discussed extensively at the annual Editorial Board meeting ... and there was general agreement that it should not have been published" were removed.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Classical and Quantum Gravity
 | author = Wray, Andrew
 | date = 2002-11-11
 | url = http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0211&L=pamnet&T=0&F=&S=&P=3647
 | access-date = 2006-12-12
 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The former phrase was, however, quoted in ''[[The New York Times]],''<ref name="overbye"/> the ''[[Chronicle of Higher Education]]''<ref name="chronicle"/> and ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]].''<ref name="nature">{{cite journal | author=Butler, Declan | title=Theses spark twin dilemma for physicists | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume=420 | issue=5 | year=2002 | doi=10.1038/420005a | pages=5 | pmid=12422173| bibcode=2002Natur.420Q...5B | doi-access=free }}</ref>}} Moreover, ''[[Die Zeit]]'' quoted Nicolai as saying that had the paper reached his desk, he would have immediately rejected it.<ref name="die-zeit">{{in lang|de}} Christoph Drösser, Ulrich Schnabel. "''[http://www.zeit.de/2002/46/Die_Maerchen_der_Gebrueder_Bogdanov Die Märchen der Gebrüder Bogdanov]''" ("Fairy tales of the Brothers Bogdanov") ''[[Die Zeit]]'' (2002), issue 46.</ref>

In 2001, the ''[[Czechoslovak Journal of Physics]]'' accepted an article written by Igor Bogdanov, entitled "Topological Origin of Inertia". The referee's report concluded: "In my opinion the results of the paper can be considered as original ones. I recommend the paper for publication but in a revised form."<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Referee report for "Topological Origin of Inertia"
 | url = http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/bogdanoff/bogdanof2.pdf
 | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref> The following year, the ''[[Chinese Journal of Physics]]'' published Igor Bogdanov's "The [[KMS state]] of spacetime at the Planck scale". The report stated that "the viewpoint presented in this paper can be interesting as a possible approach of the Planck scale physics." Some corrections were requested.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Referee report for "The KMS state of spacetime at the Planck scale"
 | url = http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/bogdanoff/bogdanof1.pdf
 | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref>

Not all review evaluations were positive. [[Eli Hawkins]], acting as a referee on behalf of the ''[[Journal of Physics A]]'', suggested rejecting one of the Bogdanovs' papers: "It is difficult to describe what is wrong in Section 4, since almost nothing is right. [...] It would take up too much space to enumerate all the mistakes: indeed it is difficult to say where one error ends and the next begins. In conclusion, I would not recommend that this paper be published in this, or any, journal."<ref name="hawkins">{{cite web
  | author = Hawkins, Eli
  | title = Referee report for ''Journal of Physics A''
  | date = 2003-05-13
  | url = http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/bogdanoff/referee.html
  | access-date = 2019-07-21}}</ref>