One way forward could be to lower the bar for publications. Once it's no longer about being in the esteemed and scarce "10%", they won't bother because they do

One way forward could be to lower the bar for publications. Once it's no longer about being in the esteemed and scarce "10%", they won't bother because they don't need to. Imagine a process where the only criteria are technical soundness and novelty, and as long as minimal standards are met, it's a "go". Call it the "ArXiv + quality check" model. Neither formal acceptance to publish nor citation numbers truly mark scientific excellence; perhaps, winning a "test of time award" does, or appearing in a text book 10 years later.