Journal of Cosmology

{{pseudosciencenav}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Journal of Cosmology''}}
{{cquote|Because JOC's editorial policy was to publish all peer-reviewed science-based theories, including articles that directly challenged the "sacred cows" of "conventional wisdom," its success posed a direct threat to the entire scientific establishment and the "gate-keepers" who wish to protect easily disproved myths and [[Persecution complex|crush dissenting views]]. Suddenly, here was this upstart, highly successful scientific journal, with a prestigious editorial board, which was directly challenging the status quo and their control over science.|||Lana Tao, in a press release announcing (prematurely) that the journal is about to stop publishing<ref name='jcos-stop'/>}}

The '''''Journal of Cosmology''''' is a [[Pseudojournal|supposedly]]-[[scientific journal]].<ref name='jcos-about'>[http://journalofcosmology.com/About.html About the Journal], ''Journal of Cosmology'', accessed 7 March 2011 ([http://www.webcitation.org/5x0TPAhbW archived by WebCite&reg;])</ref> It was established in 2009, and, despite a press release claiming they were storming out in a huff as of May 2011,<ref name='jcos-stop'>''Journal of Cosmology To Stop Publishing&mdash;Killed by Thieves and Crooks'', Lana Tao, 14 February 2011, reproduced in [https://web.archive.org/web/20110308002421/http://daviddobbs.posterous.com/journal-of-cosmology-going-out-with-big-bang Journal of Cosmology Going Out with Big Bang], '''David Dobbs's Somatic Marker'' (Archive.org)</ref> is publishing to the present. With a completely misleading name, it is a source for cranks as "proof" of pseudoscience claims.

In his comments on the 2011 "bacteria in a meteorite" brouhaha, [[PZ Myers]] described it thus: "the ginned-up website of a small group of crank academics obsessed with the idea of [[Fred Hoyle|Hoyle]] and {{wpl|Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe|Wickramasinghe}} that [[Exogenesis|life originated in outer space]] and simply [[Panspermia|rained down on Earth]]."<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/06/did-scientists-discover-bacter/</ref> Unsurprisingly, it is not in fact [[peer review]]ed,<ref>http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/01/20/totally-unsurprising/</ref> despite claiming to be. It also has remarkably fast turnaround times &mdash; with as little as 10 days between the ''actual experiment'' and ''final publication''.<ref>[http://thethoughtstash.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/scientists-how-long-does-it-typically-take-between-data-collection-and-paper-acceptance/ The Thought Stash &mdash; Scientists: how long does it typically take between data collection and paper acceptance?]</ref>

==Editorial board==
The "About" page of the website lists the following people under "Editors" (academic titles are skipped):<ref name='jcos-about'/>
*{{wpl|Rudolph Schild|Rudolph "Rudy" Schild}} (as "Editor-in-Chief" and "Executive Editor," perhaps of ''Astronomy, Astrophysics''; the page spells his first name as "Rudolf")
*Carl H. Gibson ("Executive Editor")
*John McKim Malville ("Executive Editor")
*Michael Russell ("Executive "Guest" Editor")
*Joel S. Levine ("Executive "Guest" Editor")
*{{wpl|Subhash Kak|Subhash Kak}} ("Executive Editor")
*{{wpl|Chandra Wickramasinghe|N. C. Wickramasinghe}} ("Executive Editor")
*Lana Tao ("Senior Executive Managing Director")
*{{wpl|Roger Penrose|Roger Penrose}} ("Executive "Guest" Editor"… WTF???)

Lana Tao (or someone pretending to be her) appeared and 
defended
 tried to defend the journal in a forum thread at the [[Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum]] that [[Poe's Law|questioned]] its "seriousness."<ref name='baut'>[http://cosmoquest.org/forum/showthread.php/107672-Journal-of-Cosmology/ Journal of Cosmology], ''Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum'' thread</ref>

==Publications==
{{cquote|The torches and pitchforks crowd, led by astronomer-wannabe [[Phil Plait]] claims it's not so. But then, Plait's most famous discovery was [[Ad hominem|finding one of his old socks when it went missing after a spin in his dryer]].|||''Journal of Cosmology'' Science News<ref>[http://cosmology.com/News/Article106.html Tyche: Rogue Planet Discovered in Oort Cloud], the ''Journal of Cosmology'' Science News, Gabriel Beck, 16 February 2011 ([http://www.webcitation.org/5x0SiZPVi archived by WebCite&reg;])</ref> on Plait's comments on the hypothetical planet [[Tyche]]}}

The journal issued its first volume in September 2009. It contained a single original paper &mdash; a [[panspermia]] article by [[Rhawn Joseph]].<ref name='jcos-1'>[http://journalofcosmology.com/Cosmology1.html Life on Earth Came From Other Planets], Rhawn Joseph ([http://www.webcitation.org/5x0Vj6XMc archived by WebCite&reg;])</ref> (The rest of Volume 1 are comments and a reprint of an article by {{wpl|Svante Arrhenius||.}} {{wpl|David Brin}} was one of the people invited to review the article, but his review was met with, again, ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks by "the editor," who accused him "in emotion-drenched terms, of defaming and insulting Dr. Joseph."<ref name='brin'>[http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2009/09/explanation-for-lifes-origins-that.html An "explanation" for life's origins that falls way short], ''Sentient Developments'', 23 September 2009 (includes the unpublished text of the review)</ref> PZ Myers directly called the article "complete garbage."<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/07/an_amusingly_suspicious_paper.php An amusingly suspicious “paper”], ''[[Pharyngula]]'', 23 July 2009</ref>

Since then, the journal has published more articles by Rhawn Joseph, who also has problems with the "myth of the [[Big Bang]]."<ref>[http://journalofcosmology.com/Cosmology4.html The Infinite Universe vs the Myth of the Big Bang: Red Shifts, Black Holes, Acceleration, Life.], Rhawn Joseph, ''Journal of Cosmology'', Volume 6, January 2010</ref>

The whole of Volume 4 was devoted to [[quantum consciousness]].

===Bacteria in a meteorite?===
{{Template:Expand section}}
*http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/03/05/has-life-been-found-in-a-meteorite/
*http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/03/aliens-riding-meteorites-arsenic-redux-or-something-new/
[http://journalofcosmology.com/Life100.html "Fossils of Cyanobacteria in CI1 Carbonaceous Meteorites" by Richard Hoover, Ph.D. With Commentaries] ([http://www.webcitation.org/5x0YiM1YI archived by WebCite&reg;])

===My porn is science, dammit!===
In the summer of 2011, the journal published an article by Rhawn Joseph entitled "Sexual Consciousness: The Evolution of Breasts, Buttocks and the Big Brain." PZ Myers made fun<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/14/the-hubba-hubba-theory-of-huma/ The hubba-hubba theory of human evolution], ''Pharyngula'', 14 June 2011</ref> of the article's thesis and the random images of [[naked]] women that it contained. Some other people were not happy about it either, because the article was 
retracted
 moved to Rhawn Joseph's site (BrainMind.com) and its original page got replaced with a whiny rant decrying "[[censorship]]."<ref>[http://journalofcosmology.com/Consciousness164.html Censored Article: The Evolution of Sexual Consciousness], ''Journal of Cosmology''</ref>

At the same time, cosmology.com published a long, uh, "satire" against PZ Myers, interspersed with [[Photoshop]]ped images of Myers' head attached to the bodies of obese women in skimpy clothing.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/professional_science_journalis.php Professional science journalism], ''Pharyngula'', 20 July 2011</ref> While it has been removed from the front page, the rant still exists as a sub-page of cosmology.com,<ref>[http://cosmology.com/PZMyers.html This Special Edition of Cosmology.com is in Honor of P. Z. Myers: Professional Crackpot, Hate-Monger, and Ignorant Lard Ass]</ref> though it repeatedly asserts that cosmology.com is not connected to the Journal of Cosmology. There's a little problem with that claim, though — both sites also very obviously share the same web designer with BrainMind.com, someone who ''loves'' 1990s-era static HTML and large background pictures of nebulae.

==See also==
*[[Galileo gambit]]
*[[John Brandenburg]]

==External links==
*[http://thejournalofcosmology.com/ Journal of Cosmology]
*[http://leilabattison.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/microbes-on-a-moonbeam-disentangling-the-meteorite-microbe-claims/ Microbes on a Moonbeam: Disentangling the Meteorite Microbe Claims], Leila Battison's impressions from the meteorite paper and the publishing process at the journal

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Pseudojournals|Cosmology]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]

Categories: Pseudojournals, Pseudoscience