Is it a good idea to include a work draft in application to US Physics graduate school? I and my research advisor have a manuscript that still requires some final polish to be sent for peer review. In the meantime, I am applying for graduate school. Some graduate schools allow me to upload any additional material I think helpful.
First note: We are not worried about our idea been stolen even if we expose it on the internet(My advisor even put all his finished manuscripts on arXiv, including those rejected by peer review. He in fact wants his work be read by more people and more people could exchange ideas with him, unlike the majority of academia who would keep their work not openly-accessible before published).
I ask my advisor for consent that if I can include the current version of the manuscript as a draft of our work in my application to those schools? The advisor is not familiar with how grad school admission goes in the US so he said he understood that I want to present research experience but he prefers that I state them in SoP instead. He further said nevertheless if I really want to present a draft, I need to follow the ethics code in that the ultimate rule is that I cannot damage his academic reputation, at least point out in the draft that it's not the final version in his view.
Although I have this consent, I still hesitate about it. Which one makes a stronger application? Including a Draft? or just state my work in SoP? Or the difference is trivial?
You may be worried too much about getting scooped, but you could protect yourself by including an abstract instead of a draft and clearly mark it as work in progress, not to be shared.
The abstract could include something about the problem(s) you are addressing and say that your solutions will appear in a future publication, rather than revealing them. You might give an indication of estimated time frame to submission.
Having &quot;work in progress&quot; is always a good thing in an application.
But if you intend to continue this line of research, then the SoP is a good place to discuss it and mention there that you will upload an abstract.

Note that someone &quot;stealing&quot; your work through the release of a draft in an application would be clear plagiarism. And you have a dated verification of the priority of the work you have done in the application itself and could be pointed to. But that doesn't save you from getting &quot;scooped&quot; in your work as parallel independent research is common in many fields.