What percentage of STEM PhD applicants have peer-reviewed publications?
I'm in a CS department at a mid-ranked school in the US, and have reviewed applications for Ph.D programs in CS for the last 6 years. I didn't compile detailed numbers, but my sense is that the number of candidates with "actual" publications (as opposed to fluff pubs) is of the order of 5%. I suspect this number is higher for the top-ranked school.