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Monday, January 08, 2007
How many drafts on SSRN?
I had a thought I neglected to mention in my earlier AALS post, but it seems sufficiently distinct that it's worth a different post: At the conference, someone mentioned to me that Larry Solum advised people to put up three drafts of a paper on SSRN: first, a ten page version that stakes out the thesis and perhaps the scope of intervention and methodology; later a complete pre-publication draft; and finally, the published version. I didn't go to the relevant panel so the assertion that Larry said this may be mistaken, but the underlying advice does seem sound, and would, at least at first blush, tend to avoid some of the problems I highlighted last year around this time about the danger of (junior) scholars putting drafts up on SSRN too early. New year's is a good time for resolutions, so it's time to bite the bullet this month and put up some more abstracts with ten page overviews about the projects I have in progress about punitive damages and the constitutional deficiencies of indeterminate sentencing schemes. But before I do: am I missing anything? Are there any pitfalls of which I should be aware here?
Posted by Administrators on January 8, 2007 at 07:27 PM in Life of Law Schools | Permalink
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I have been posting two drafts, a "good pre submission draft" and a final draft (plus updating draft 1 periodically), but will consider Larry's 3-draft approach when sensible (might not be for an empirical paper.
I want to add two thoughts, one positive and one cautionary.
On the positive side, there are disciplines (Chemistry for example) where something like this is the norm -- one publishes results quickly in summary form, and later in fuller form.
On the cautionary side, if you post an idea early, someone who is already working on a similar idea might be prompted to speed up their work. So you ought to be prepared to get to the point of being ready to submit to journals with reasonable dispatch. We might get to a world where date of public posting is the critical date for ownership of an idea, and date of publication is irrelevant. I hope we do, but we're not there yet.
Bernie Black
Posted by: Bernie Black | Feb 8, 2007 8:35:01 PM
The advice that I gave is to post three versions of each paper on SSRN. Version one is the "idea paper," the version that sets out the thesis and the core supporting argument. 10 single spaced (or 20 double spaced) pages is only an approximation. Also, I think it a good idea to use a different title for the idea paper--one that reflects its early stage and tentative nature, e.g., "A Preliminary Analysis of . . .". Idea papers "lay claim" to the new idea--the real contribution to the literature--at an early stage. They also are the perfect vehicle for an "early stage" workshop or brownbag lunch discussion. Idea papers are especially important if you are worried that your new idea may be scooped while you are building the full fledged 50-70 page law review version. The second version is the official "draft." This is the version that you would circulate widely for comments, present at a "work in progress" workshop (or "job talk" workshop), and in revised form would be the version submitted to law reviews or peer-edited journals for publication. The third and final version is the "final" version of the paper--hopefully the PDF of the paper as published with pagination. This is the version that would be downloaded and cited by others & a link to this version would accompany the citation to the article on your c.v. or resume. I think it is very important that all papers posted to SSRN be in "good shape" before posting. The "ideas" in "idea papers" should be carefully thought out; the paper itself should be carefully proofed and edited. If possible, I would ask a close professional friend to read the "idea paper" before posting--to get comments, catch glitches, and avoid the danger of posting a "less than half baked" idea with glaring defects.
Posted by: Lawrence Solum | Jan 10, 2007 8:38:57 AM
I was there, and that is an accurate quote. I won't try to speak for Larry, but I don't think he was suggesting putting up a "shitty first draft." He characterized it as an "idea paper": ten or twelve pages in which you lay out the thesis, but don't necessarily do all the supporting work, nor the anticipation of objections, etc. He had at least two points: (a) it DOES lay a claim for the topic as yours, and (b) it's actually more likely that somebody is going to read your short piece than your long piece. In fact, I have just posted a piece in that vein: "Why the Law of Entrepreneurship Barely Matters: Rules, Cognitions, and the Antinomies of Transactional Practice," http://ssrn.com/abstract=954400.
I will let others speak to pitfalls, if any.
Posted by: Jeff Lipshaw | Jan 8, 2007 9:03:01 PM
Not having been at the particular panel, I can't guess what Larry's reasoning was, but I think the idea is that by telling people what you're working on earlier, you may be able to attract some new and more readers earlier on, perhaps garner queries from others working in the area who may be thinking of appropriate conference attendees or speakers at workshops, and maybe pee around the territory to ward off potential thieves. But I'm not sure how successful that is. I recall from my earlier post on Whither SSRN that Michael Jensen said in a comment that putting up a "slides" version of the work in progress would also facilitate the mission of sharing tomorrow's research today, so I guess there's both strategic and knowledge-building benefits to foreshadowing through the 10 page draft...
Posted by: Dan Markel | Jan 8, 2007 8:20:50 PM
Dan,
What's the benefit of putting up a 10-page draft as opposed to the full pre-publication draft? Is the idea to advertise to people what kind of stuff you're working on?
Posted by: Orin Kerr | Jan 8, 2007 8:09:44 PM
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