It's interesting that people from academia are so interested in publishing - making
the precise details of everything public. Let me remind you however, that a large
percentage of scientists do not work for academia. Many of these people are
restricted or prohibited from publishing details of on-going projects. The fact that
something has not been published should not be taken as an indication that there
is a problem, far from it. In industry pains are taken to keep secret those facts
and knowledge which might be used to enhance the company. Would you say
that because Coca Cola does not publish the list of ingredients in their soda, that
the soda is suspect or there is a problem with it? Another example is someone
working with the government. Because we are privy to data which is acquired
at taxpaper expense, we are strongly discouraged from publishing anything original
from that data. In fact there are often penalties for those who do. Does this mean
that all government scientists are lackards - I doubt it.
The saying that is taken as truth in academia "Publish or perish" is exactly
the opposite in many other occupations "Publish AND perish" is more apt in
these.