More papers published doesn’t mean more science. It just means more people incentivized to publish “science”. Most published papers don’t matter. They may not b

More papers published doesn’t mean more science. It just means more people incentivized to publish “science”. Most published papers don’t matter. They may not be read at all or applied in any way. They are mostly about individuals making progress, like towards a degree or the next funding grant or next title. A small percentage of science is actually moving things truly forward. It also makes sense that after all the progress so far, further research will be increasingly expensive and time consuming and unlikely to make a finding.