@user119264 Note the clause "If your field has a culture of using preprint servers." For instance, if you're working in math, physics, etc. where it's totally ok to disseminate preprints before publication, there's no reason not to list your manuscript on your CV with an active link to it. But if it's against the culture in your field or the policy of the particular journal you want to publish it in, you don't want to upload it. So, whether uploading a preprint is a good idea depends on the culture in your field (or, more importantly, the policy of that particular journal).

@justhalf Assuming Y prohibits dual submission, it is highly unethical to hide his or her misconduct and proceed to publish the paper in Y. Moreover, upon OP's submission, most likely X obtained the copyright, although it is unclear from OP's writing if it was done in a legally valid way. Either way, OP did not object publication in Journal X. Therefore, it is unquestionably unethical to retract it from X for the purpose of publishing it in Y. If anything, I feel that OP should disclose everything to both X and Y. This may result in getting banned from them for some time, though.

They mean the exact same thing.

I never heard of a serious academic journal that allows dual submission except if one submission is to a preprint server, conference proceedings, non-refereed publication venue in a foreign language and the like. If you didn't explicitly tell Journal X that you would like to withdraw your submission, and if Journal Y doesn't allow dual submission, I think the only option you have is to withdraw your paper at Journal Y. By the way, the review process can take long. For example, in mathematics, it can easily take a year or two or even more. 2 months till acceptance sounds quite normal to me.

@xLeitix I'm no linguist. But does linguistics publish a guidebook of a particular German literature work as research? Maybe this is not what OP meant, but I took it this way. This might be one of many things linguistics typically deals with, though...

If I were you, the first step I would take is to ask my (prospective) advisor, professors teaching/researching relevant courses at my school, and other experts I had found on the internet.

I recommend you reread the question, especially the paragraph that starts with "Hence my question: Is there any research/study/survey..." Is your "answer" to the question "Is there X?" Yes or No?

The first place you might want to look is probably the copyright transfer agreements you signed when you published your papers, not their websites.

@cbeleites It's a difficult question because I need to explain a lot of things. But roughly speaking, when it comes to public schools (which OP asked about), you can pick only one school. And if you didn't pass their entrance exam, you can apply for one more public school. And that's it. The reason for no mass application is complicated. But basically, if you apply for a prestigious public school (which is the case for OP), the outcomes of your applications to private schools should come first. You only take the exam for a public school if your first choice is that school at this point.

Well, according to the answers you got, you'll probably have trouble to some degree. I'm not sure how much this helps you feel better, but you can at least use a name that sort of looks like your real name, and can even use the real one if you really want to! You know, there are billions of people out there who don't have such a privilege. And to those people transliteration into the English alphabet can cause a serious problem that makes it quite difficult to identify a person online, e.g., how many Wei Wong's are there when their original spellings may be different in their native language?

I just googled in Japanese what my countrymen think if a Japanese school treats differently applicants who turned down offers. Opinions I found through casual googling were nearly unanimously "There's no way a reputable school would do such a thing." So, if OP's country also respects equal opportunity in education, the reason may be more professional than just "Reason? 'cause you rejected me once. It's human nature." I think it's more likely that the system there (or the school s/he is applying to) has some mechanism that would degrade the quality of candidates if reapplications are allowed.

@paulgarrett I tend to think the human nature thing is very unlikely. Japan has an entrance system similar to what chubakueno describes. But I have never heard of forbidding reapplying or anything of that nature in Japan. If a university does such a thing, it would be perceived as being egregiously unfair. There are various valid reasons that may make applicants change their minds, e.g., serious illness (and unexpectedly quick recovery), a sudden change of their financial situations, and a whole lot of other personal issues. (cont'd)