The "Essjay controversy" was a February 2007 incident where a prominent English Wikipedia administrator known as Essjay was found to have made false claims about his academic qualifications and professional experience in a telephone interview with The New Yorker. Identity revealed

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Speaking personally about Jordan, Wales said, "Mr. Ryan [sic] was a friend, and still is a friend. He is a young man, and he has offered me a heartfelt personal apology, which I have accepted. I hope the world will let him go in peace to build an honorable life and reputation."
Wales expressed his regret that Essjay had "made a series of very bad judgments." He also commented that he hoped Wikipedia would improve as a result of the controversy.

Wikipedia community
Larry Sanger, editor-in-chief of online encyclopedia Citizendium,

Wikipedia critics
On March 2, 2007, a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education commented "the incident is clearly damaging to Wikipedia's credibility – especially with professors who will now note that one of the site's most visible academics has turned out to be a fraud."

See also