Classical and Quantum Gravity (classical-and-quantum-gravity)

Journal positioning

Classical and Quantum Gravity is an IOP Publishing journal dedicated to all aspects of gravitational physics: classical general relativity, alternative and modified theories of gravity, mathematical relativity, cosmology, gravitational-wave science, numerical relativity, and approaches to quantum gravity. Its defining character is breadth within gravitation combined with technical rigor: CQG is a primary archival home for the gravitation community, publishing complete, well-documented studies from mathematical foundations to gravitational-wave data analysis. It is not a broad-impact venue in the PRL sense; soundness, completeness, and relevance to gravitational physics are the standard. Readership is the international gravitation, relativity, and cosmology community across physics and mathematical physics. This skill is a fit / venue-selection / re-framing tool. It does not replace the journal's current official submission guidelines. Before submitting, re-check the live author instructions on the Classical and Quantum Gravity IOP site.

When to trigger

• The author names Classical and Quantum Gravity as the target venue for a complete study in gravitation, relativity, cosmology, or quantum gravity.
• A manuscript in gravitational-wave science, numerical relativity, or mathematical relativity is archival and rigorous but not framed for a broad-impact letters venue.
• A paper develops or tests a gravity theory or approach to quantum gravity and the author is choosing between CQG, Physical Review D, and a reviews venue.
• The author needs CQG's scope boundaries within gravitation, evidence expectations, and desk-reject criteria before submission.

Scope & topic fit

• Classical general relativity: exact solutions, black-hole physics, causal structure, energy conditions, and the global geometry of spacetime.
• Mathematical relativity: the Cauchy problem, stability of solutions, asymptotic structure, and rigorous results in Lorentzian geometry.
• Cosmology: relativistic cosmological models, inflation, dark energy and modified gravity, and the cosmological perturbation theory underlying them.
• Gravitational-wave science: source modeling, waveform development, data-analysis methods, detector science, and tests of GR with GW observations.
• Numerical relativity: formulations, simulations of compact-object dynamics, and binary-merger modeling.
• Quantum gravity and semiclassical physics: loop quantum gravity, string-inspired gravity, asymptotic safety, black-hole thermodynamics, and quantum-field theory in curved spacetime.

Method & evidence bar

• The contribution must be a complete, self-contained study with full derivations, assumptions stated, and results documented; preliminary or letter-only sketches misfit.
• Analytical and mathematical-relativity work must be rigorous, with proofs or derivations verifiable from the paper and its appendices.
• Numerical relativity and GW-analysis results require documented methods (formulation, resolution/convergence, gauge, sampling), convergence tests, and quantified uncertainties.
• Modified-gravity and cosmology claims must be consistent with established theoretical and observational constraints, with limits and regimes of validity stated.
• Where reproducibility depends on it, codes and data (e.g., waveform or analysis pipelines) should be made available or described in sufficient detail.
• The work must be positioned precisely against the existing gravitation literature, distinguishing genuine advance from re-derivation.

Structure & house style

• CQG uses standard IOP article types (Papers, Letters, Topical Reviews); Papers are the primary complete-study format and length follows completeness.
• Use the IOP LaTeX class with structured sections and consistent relativistic notation (signature, index, and unit conventions stated explicitly).
• The abstract states the gravitational problem, method, and principal result; broad-impact rhetoric is not required.
• Equations and tensor conventions must be unambiguous; figures (waveforms, convergence plots, spacetime diagrams) must be quantitative and labeled.
• Appendices and supplementary material carry lengthy derivations, convergence studies, and additional numerical results.
• Citation must engage the relevant CQG/PRD/Living Reviews literature precisely to situate the advance within gravitation.

Official-submission checklist

• Before giving submission-ready advice, read ../../resources/source-basis.md and ../../resources/official-source-map.md; start from the official source anchors for this journal family, then cite the current journal-specific page you checked.
• Search the live site for "Classical and Quantum Gravity author guidelines" and follow the current IOP version.
• Re-check article-type definitions (Paper, Letter, Topical Review) and current length, figure, and notation conventions.
• Re-check data-availability and code-availability requirements; confirm supplementary-material formatting and deposition expectations.
• Re-check competing-interests, funding, and AI-use disclosure requirements; confirm preprint policy (arXiv posting is standard and compatible).
• If the live official instructions conflict with this skill, the official instructions win.

Pre-submission self-check

• One sentence — the advance in gravitation/relativity/cosmology/quantum gravity this paper makes and who will build on it.
• The study is complete: derivations, assumptions, and results are fully documented with stated conventions.
• Numerical-relativity or GW results include convergence tests and quantified uncertainties.
• Modified-gravity/cosmology claims are consistent with current theoretical and observational constraints.
• Codes/data needed for reproduction are available or described in sufficient detail.
• The paper is positioned against recent CQG / PRD literature on this problem.

Common desk-reject triggers

• A preliminary or letter-length sketch lacking the completeness CQG Papers expect.
• A numerical-relativity or GW-analysis result without convergence tests or quantified uncertainties.
• A modified-gravity proposal inconsistent with established constraints or with regimes of validity unstated.
• A re-derivation of a known result presented as a new advance without genuine novelty.
• A manuscript outside gravitation scope, or one whose framing belongs in a broad-impact or non-gravity venue.

Re-routing decision

• US-style gravitation, relativity, or cosmology result within the Physical Review family: physical-review-d.
• Continuously updated, invited authoritative review specifically in relativity and gravitation: living-reviews-in-relativity.
• Cosmology or relativistic-astrophysics result with strong observational/astronomy emphasis: the-astrophysical-journal or astronomy-and-astrophysics.
• Broad-impact, transformative gravitation result for a wide physics audience: physical-review-x or physical-review-letters.

Output format

[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason)
[Target] Classical and Quantum Gravity
[Topic tags] <2–3 closest topics>
[Method/evidence] <is the study complete and rigorous, with convergence/uncertainty analysis and consistency with established gravitational constraints?>
[Top risk] <the single most likely reason for rejection>
[Official items to re-check] <article type / length & notation conventions / supplementary material / data-code deposition / disclosure / preprint policy>
[Re-route suggestion] <if not a fit, a better-matched venue>