ABSTRACT
A ring R is called clean if every element of it is a sum of an idempotent and a unit. A ring R is neat if every proper homomorphic image of R is clean. When R is a field, then a complete characterization has been obtained for a commutative group ring RG to be neat, but not clean. And if R is not a field, then necessary conditions are obtained for a commutative group ring RG to be neat, but not clean. A counterexample is given to show that these necessary conditions are not sufficient.
Acknowledgment
The authors are extremely thankful to the referee for the valuable comments and suggestions, which improved the overall presentation of the paper.