diff --git a/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php b/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php
index 9ac04e3aaf..acc812c931 100644
--- a/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php
+++ b/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <?php
+
 /**
  * @file classes/components/form/publication/PublishForm.php
  *
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@
 
 namespace APP\components\forms\publication;
 
+use APP\facades\Repo;
 use APP\publication\Publication;
 use PKP\components\forms\FieldHTML;
 use PKP\components\forms\FormComponent;
@@ -56,6 +58,22 @@ public function __construct($action, $publication, $submissionContext, $requirem
                     'label' => $submitLabel,
                 ],
             ]);
+
+            // If publication does not have a version stage assigned
+            $publicationVersion = $publication->getVersion();
+            if (!isset($publicationVersion)) {
+                $submission = Repo::submission()->get($publication->getData('submissionId'));
+                $nextVersion = Repo::submission()->getNextAvailableVersion($submission, Publication::DEFAULT_VERSION_STAGE, false);
+
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage') . '</p>';
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage.assignment', [
+                    'versionString' => $nextVersion
+                ]) . '</p>';
+            } else {
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage.alreadyAssignment', [
+                    'versionString' => $publicationVersion
+                ]) . '</p>';
+            }
         } else {
             $msg = '<p>' . __('publication.publish.requirements') . '</p>';
             $msg .= '<ul>';
diff --git a/classes/migration/install/OPSMigration.php b/classes/migration/install/OPSMigration.php
index 5db8ab093b..169248aed0 100644
--- a/classes/migration/install/OPSMigration.php
+++ b/classes/migration/install/OPSMigration.php
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 namespace APP\migration\install;
 
+use APP\publication\enums\VersionStage;
 use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
@@ -87,12 +88,21 @@ public function up(): void
 
             $table->tinyInteger('status')->default(1); // PKPSubmission::STATUS_QUEUED
             $table->string('url_path', 64)->nullable();
-            $table->bigInteger('version')->nullable();
             $table->index(['url_path'], 'publications_url_path');
 
             $table->bigInteger('doi_id')->nullable();
             $table->foreign('doi_id')->references('doi_id')->on('dois')->nullOnDelete();
             $table->index(['doi_id'], 'publications_doi_id');
+
+            $table->enum('version_stage', array_column(VersionStage::cases(), 'value'))->nullable();
+            $table->integer('version_minor')->nullable();
+            $table->integer('version_major')->nullable();
+            $table->datetime('created_at')->after('date_published');
+
+            $table->bigInteger('source_publication_id')->nullable()->after('publication_id');
+            $table->foreign('source_publication_id', 'publications_source_publication_id')
+                ->references('publication_id')->on('publications')->nullOnDelete();
+            $table->index(['source_publication_id'], 'publications_source_publication_id_index');
         });
         // The following foreign key relationships are for tables defined in SubmissionsMigration
         // but they depend on publications to exist so are created here.
diff --git a/classes/publication/DAO.php b/classes/publication/DAO.php
index d063ecc55d..b3d6f9b9e3 100644
--- a/classes/publication/DAO.php
+++ b/classes/publication/DAO.php
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@ class DAO extends \PKP\publication\DAO
         'submissionId' => 'submission_id',
         'status' => 'status',
         'urlPath' => 'url_path',
-        'version' => 'version',
-        'doiId' => 'doi_id'
+        'doiId' => 'doi_id',
+        'versionStage' => 'version_stage',
+        'versionMinor' => 'version_minor',
+        'versionMajor' => 'version_major',
+        'createdAt' => 'created_at',
+        'sourcePublicationId' => 'source_publication_id'
     ];
 
     /**
diff --git a/classes/publication/Publication.php b/classes/publication/Publication.php
index 342fcc6a77..5461d7e8e1 100644
--- a/classes/publication/Publication.php
+++ b/classes/publication/Publication.php
@@ -20,10 +20,13 @@
 
 use APP\core\Application;
 use APP\file\PublicFileManager;
+use APP\publication\enums\VersionStage;
 use PKP\publication\PKPPublication;
 
 class Publication extends PKPPublication
 {
+    public const DEFAULT_VERSION_STAGE = VersionStage::AUTHOR_ORIGINAL;
+
     public const PUBLICATION_RELATION_NONE = 1;
     public const PUBLICATION_RELATION_PUBLISHED = 3;
 
diff --git a/classes/publication/Repository.php b/classes/publication/Repository.php
index 0b30147ce7..890c57b5f9 100644
--- a/classes/publication/Repository.php
+++ b/classes/publication/Repository.php
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 use APP\core\Application;
 use APP\facades\Repo;
+use APP\publication\enums\VersionStage;
 use APP\submission\Submission;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\App;
 use PKP\context\Context;
@@ -96,9 +97,9 @@ public function validate($publication, array $props, Submission $submission, Con
     }
 
     /** @copydoc \PKP\publication\Repository::version() */
-    public function version(Publication $publication): int
+    public function version(Publication $publication, ?VersionStage $versionStage = null, bool $isMinorVersion = true): int
     {
-        $newId = parent::version($publication);
+        $newId = parent::version($publication, $versionStage, $isMinorVersion);
 
         $context = Application::get()->getRequest()->getContext();
 
diff --git a/classes/publication/enums/VersionStage.php b/classes/publication/enums/VersionStage.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81d52f03ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/classes/publication/enums/VersionStage.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file publication/enums/VersionStage.php
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2023-2024 Simon Fraser University
+ * Copyright (c) 2023-2024 John Willinsky
+ * Distributed under the GNU GPL v3. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
+ *
+ * @class VersionStage
+ *
+ * @brief Enumeration for publication version stages
+ *
+ * see also https://www.niso.org/standards-committees/jav-revision
+ */
+
+namespace APP\publication\enums;
+
+enum VersionStage: string
+{
+    case AUTHOR_ORIGINAL = 'AO';
+    case SUBMITTED_MANUSCRIPT = 'SM';
+
+    public function labelKey(): string
+    {
+        return match ($this) {
+            self::AUTHOR_ORIGINAL => 'publication.versionStage.authorOriginal',
+            self::SUBMITTED_MANUSCRIPT => 'publication.versionStage.submittedManuscript',
+        };
+    }
+
+    public function label(?string $locale = null): string
+    {
+        return __($this->labelKey(), locale: $locale);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml b/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
index f0a0ea71c8..03ea2bec04 100644
--- a/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
+++ b/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
@@ -164,11 +164,15 @@
 		<migration class="APP\migration\install\ReviewerRecommendationsMigration" />
 		<migration class="APP\migration\upgrade\v3_6_0\I1660_ReviewerRecommendations"/>
 		<migration class="APP\migration\upgrade\v3_6_0\I10404_UpdateCategoryImageNameFields"/>
+		<note file="docs/release-notes/README-3.6.0" />
 	</upgrade>
 
 	<upgrade minversion="3.1.0.0" maxversion="3.5.9.9">
-        <note file="docs/release-notes/README-3.6.0" />
-    </upgrade>
+		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_6_0\I4860_MigratePublicationVersion"/>
+		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_6_0\I4860_MigratePublicationAddCreatedAt"/>
+		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_6_0\I4860_MigratePublicationVersionSourcePublicationId"/>
+		<note file="docs/release-notes/README-3.6.0" />
+	</upgrade>
 
 	<!-- update plugin configuration - should be done as the final upgrade task -->
 	<code function="addPluginVersions" />
diff --git a/locale/en/submission.po b/locale/en/submission.po
index 1c0bcb6f90..21a1e46767 100644
--- a/locale/en/submission.po
+++ b/locale/en/submission.po
@@ -244,4 +244,10 @@ msgstr "Add any information that you think our moderators should know before pos
 msgid "submission.copyright.description"
 msgstr ""
 "Please read and understand the copyright terms for submissions to this "
-"preprint server."
\ No newline at end of file
+"preprint server."
+
+msgid "publication.versionStage.authorOriginal"
+msgstr "Author Original"
+
+msgid "publication.versionStage.submittedManuscript"
+msgstr "Submitted Manuscript"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/templates/frontend/objects/preprint_details.tpl b/templates/frontend/objects/preprint_details.tpl
index f23e3d6b21..92b87e9d12 100644
--- a/templates/frontend/objects/preprint_details.tpl
+++ b/templates/frontend/objects/preprint_details.tpl
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@
 						</h2>
 						<ul class="value">
 							{foreach from=array_reverse($preprint->getPublishedPublications()) item=iPublication}
-								{capture assign="name"}{translate key="submission.versionIdentity" datePublished=$iPublication->getData('datePublished')|date_format:$dateFormatShort version=$iPublication->getData('version')}{/capture}
+								{capture assign="name"}{translate key="submission.versionIdentity" datePublished=$iPublication->getData('datePublished')|date_format:$dateFormatShort version=$iPublication->getData('versionString')}{/capture}
 								<li>
 									{if $iPublication->getId() === $publication->getId()}
 										{$name}