Electronic Submission

An electronic submission can be used to transmit a file from one person to another person in a secure way. Of course, this form of transfer of files arose in tandem with the Internet: before that, it would have been logistically difficult to transfer files in an electronic way, as opposed to manually delivering the document to the recipient. There was admittedly faxing in the past; this can be understood as a precursor to modern electronic submissions.

Breakdown of electronic submissions

An electronic submission can be used to transmit a file from one person to another person in a secure way. Of course, this form of transfer of files arose in tandem with the Internet: before that, it would have been logistically difficult to transfer files in an electronic way, as opposed to manually delivering the document to the recipient. There was admittedly faxing in the past; this can be understood as a precursor to modern electronic submissions.

Understanding use of the term and rules

Here are a few sentences where the term electronic submission is being used in a correct way. 

"The professor, indicated that while she will accept hard copies of the term paper, an electronic submission would be much preferred, for reasons of convenience."

"The publishing house indicated that while they would accept an electronic submission, an old-fashioned mail submission would be more likely to get their attention, since there would be fewer of those making their way to the company."

"The student was required to make an electronic submission to the special website in order to make sure that his work contained no plagiarism."

In case you would like just a little further clarification about the meaning of electronic submission, here are a couple basic rules you can follow.

1. A submission is when one person formally delivers a document to another person. Therefore, an electronic submission is simply when this is done across an electronic medium. That medium is almost always the Internet. Essentially, instead of delivering a document to the recipient physically via the mail or in person, the electronic submission allows the delivery to be done through virtual data transfer. 

2. An electronic submission can consist of providing the final deliverable to the intended recipient; or, it can also consist of giving the document to an intermediary for the purposes of a quality check of some kind. For example, a professor may ask for an electronic submission of a term paper; but she may also require students to make an electronic submission to Turnitin for a quality and originality check. Click here to read more about proper quoting, citations and avoiding plagiarism when completing writing work. 

The rise of the internet and its effect on publishing

The concept of the electronic submission is clearly connected with the rise of the Internet. Before the Internet, it would have been literally impossible for a student to make an electronic submission to a professor, for the simple reason that the medium required for doing such a thing would not have existed. 

One of the main advantages of the electronic submission is, of course, convenience. One person can transmit a document to another person with no concern at all for space, as long as the recipient has Internet access; and unlike the physical mail, the transfer of the data occurs instantaneously. However, this ease itself may be one of the drawbacks of the electronic submission. Anyone can now submit anything, which could have potential negative effects for quality. For example, a publishing house may refuse to accept an electronic submission, simply because a writer who would actually go through the trouble of physically mailing something could be expected to be somewhat more serious about his work.