My assessment is that this (standards) is half the issue - the more conspicuous half. How to get adequate articles written in areas where WP collectively has little expertise is the other major question; this is not surely just a matter of applying standards, but requires people either to out on a limb, or gain access to research materials such as an academic library offers.
Anyway, there are the two limiting shortages: high-quality editors, and editors in less common areas.
Charles