There are lots of poor quality papers coming out of certain areas of the world where the mantra is publish publish publish. The fact most of it is very low quality is being recognised. (see link at bottom- Nature is a well respected source).
Lots of posts under diogenes profile of the science going on behind the scenes 😊👍
Some places you are regarded on the volume of work not the quality. These papers can be picked apart and the fatal flaws exposed because currently the whole research area is underpinned by some fairly bold assumptions and extrapolations.It does hold back progress and I’m sure behind the scenes there will be some jockeying by medical journals to be regarded as the best, then the others, the ‘also rans’ churning journals where peers simply rubber stamp each other’s work to progress their careers.The biggest problem is the easiest way to get published is to do work that reinforces the dominant thought in any subject and it reinforces the current paradigm. I call these people academic sheep.So as those at the top of the tree (actually doing the serious research) realise the current paradigm may need more than a fair old tweak and change direction, the sheep are running down the track in the opposite direction.As I start to get up to speed in the area, the glaring inadequacies of the research are not lost on me. In fact on more than one occasion I’ve been left speechless - my hubby would attest a rare event.There is some superb research out there but we cannot wait for that to trickle down so we have to self-advocate - this is not a ideal situation (UNDERSTATEMENT) but that why we coalesce into massive forums to push from the bottom up.
A year down the line and no further forward 
Treasury want the public to post ideas for savings in govt.
