I have uploaded another research paper draft. It is entitled "Was the Buddha Obliged to Observe Vinaya Rules?", in which I argue that according to earliest Pali sources,
1. The Buddha unlike his followers lived above and beyond the Vinaya rules.
2. Throughout his life, the sole moral guideline for his activities was the Dhamma that he had realized, not the explicit Vinaya rules.
3. The earliest three suttas given in full in Mv probably enshrine the nutshell of Dhamma which had been the moral guideline of the Buddha and his followers before explicit Vinaya rules appeared.
I have already sent the paper to JIABS (the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies). I have also enquired about the journal policy on preprints and the editors said that they don't have a policy on preprints. Hence the uploading of the draft paper. However, I will have to "freeze" it---that is, I will not update the Web version with the changes suggested by the reviewers / other readers and accepted by myself---until the paper is published.