Science progresses because it is open to scrutiny. For
findings to be accepted, they must pass peer-review and must be presented to
other scientists for them to question, refute, or confirm. Publication in a
scientific journal (and presentation at conferences) is key to this process. However,
the number of journals and conferences have increased massively over the last
10 -20 years, and many of them are not the real thing – so called ‘predatory’
publishing and predatory conferences have sprung up everywhere. The problem
with this is that there is no clear line between what is real and what is fake.