I'm only shocked that this is the first time you'd heard of adversarial delaying. When that fails, sometimes PIs will call up their editorially inclined pals an

I'm only shocked that this is the first time you'd heard of adversarial delaying. When that fails, sometimes PIs will call up their editorially inclined pals and suggest a "bundle" issue to sneak in their lab's work. There are many ways to avoid ceding priority for discovery. If preprint deposition is the default, this all goes away. The people who lose from such a shift are editors of major journals, publishers of journals, and senior PIs who know how to rig the game. A cynical mind might propose that these are the major forces resisting such a shift.