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This is what happens when academia becomes so hyper focused on a steady cadence of publishing research papers. That's not even the only issue, having your papers become highly cited is another critical characteristic researchers have to worry about in order to remain competitive. But in order to be often cited, you need to achieve positive results for your hypothesis at all costs, resulting in issues like what this paper discusses: Do Pressures to Publish Increase Scientists' Bias? An Empirical Support from US States Data.
Academia needs to take a step back and rethink its approach to pressuring researchers to be constantly publishing. I understand that funding is highly competitive and very limited, which is why our governments need to also re-examine our spending priorities. Do we really need another multi-billion dollar Navy ship that's already obsolete by the time it's built? Or would our money be better spent funneled into research across all fields and disciplines, advancing our knowledge of the world around us and beyond? I know the world isn't so black and white and I'm not naive enough to think war will magically go away if we stop spending into it, but surely a comfortable balance can be met. Just $1 billion could probably fund at least several dozen different research projects for a few years. Meanwhile, the Navy just spent $10 billion on just 10 new destroyers in 2023 alone.