Predatory publishing

So, imagine you have a lemonade stand and you make the best lemonade ever! But there are some people out there who are not very nice and they want to trick you into giving them your money without giving you any lemonade in return. That's what happens in predatory publishing.

Some people set up fake journals or publishers that look real, but they don't really care about making good quality research available to people. Instead, they just want to take your money and publish your work without any proper checking or editing. This is bad because it means that readers might believe something that isn't true, and other scientists won't be able to build on your work or trust it.

So, it's important to always check that the publisher or journal you want to publish in is a real and trustworthy one. You should look for information like their review process, the people on their editorial board, and whether they are indexed in academic databases. Remember, not all journals are created equal, and some are just trying to trick you out of your hard-earned money.