This topic is quite a significant issue (for some of reasons expressed above). It was also addressed in a different sort of way in
The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next by Lee Smolin where in part he more or less compares the scientific research community and peer publication process to a kind of "group-think" process that preserves the status quo and prevents new idea and approaches from being seriously considered.
http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Physic...7316986&sr=8-8