How can I send a manuscript to acquaintances without getting scammed?

Question

I have a manuscript ready for submission. However, I would like to send it to some other doctoral students in my country for them to proofread. These two persons are not my friends, we met on a conference and I surely do not trust them ethically, as we have not worked together before. I have heard a lot of stories about people stealing other's works, and I don't want to get scammed.

How should I approach the situation? Is there any way I can claim copyright over a manuscript?

@JonCuster Proof reading mainly, I wrote this entire manuscript by myself & I wish to send it in Q1 journa, I'm trying my best to increase my chances of acceptance — Touf Gh, Jan 28 '23 at 22:57
Then discuss with your advisor. Surely they have trusted peers? — Jon Custer, Jan 28 '23 at 23:01
I would not send a manuscript to someone I did not trust. If you do want to go ahead, posting on arXiv or any appropriate preprint server would establish priority. — Ethan Bolker, Jan 28 '23 at 23:01
As per @EthanBolker's suggestion, posting on a preprint server would probably constitute a publication made available to the public, which in turn automatically attracts copyright protection. However, you should check to see if that preprint release will not ruin your chances of publication in your Q1 journal. — Nicholas, Jan 28 '23 at 23:05
You may want to clarify if you mean "proofread" in the grammar and spelling sense, or "proofread" in the sense of reviewing it to double check the fundamental concepts and soundness of the paper. Both here in this question, and to anyone you may ask to proofread it. — Anonymous, Jan 29 '23 at 05:27
Does this answer your question? How can I "time-stamp" my data without publishing it? — Anonymous Physicist, Jan 30 '23 at 00:27

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 29 '23 at 02:47

(1) You better not share an unpublished work with someone you do not trust.

(2) If you absolutely have to do this, place your text on Overleaf, and share the link with those people. The Overleaf history of the document may serve as a proof of your authorship. (I am not sure if that proof could bear legal weight, though.)

(3) Re-read item (1) above.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 29 '23 at 04:13

I do not think you can absolutely "avoid getting scammed" without publishing the paper before sending it. There are some key factors to consider that may determine how reliable they are (e.g. other people's opinions on them, their prestige as researchers, etc), but at the end of the day you have to trust them before you send them the paper.

Note moreover, that it is your responsibility to proofread your papers. Hypothetically, if someone finds a mistake in your work, fixes it, and publishes a paper on it. Then this does not count as "scamming" (it is not very nice though).

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 29 '23 at 05:02

Do not send your work to people whom you do not trust!

If you simply want a proofreader, I would suggest that you find a good native-speaker of whatever language your paper is written in, and ask them to read the paper. If, on the other hand, you want to have someone read your paper for advice on content on structure, you might consider using the services of the journal where you are considering submitting the paper. Many publishers have such services to assist non-native speakers, or novice writers to get their papers into better shape.

How can I send a manuscript to acquaintances without getting scammed?

3 Answers3