How to edit the publication dates on your item
When creating an item on Figshare, it’s possible to edit the dates in the publication timeline — or history — that appears on the public record of your item.
To edit this, open your item from the My data page and click on ‘Edit timeline’ on the right side of the screen. A popup will appear.
If you are using a free account on Figshare.com, you will only be able to edit the Online publication date (also called first online date) by clicking the ‘Set date’ link and uncheck the ‘Use initial posted date’ box.
If you are at an institution, you may have options to edit multiple dates including:
- Submission date (generated on initial submission for review): The date of the initial submission for review
- Online publication date: The original date this work appeared in any context online. This date is mandatory. If no date is added, the initial posted date will be used.
- Acceptance date: The date this was accepted for publication by a publisher. This date is optional. If this date is not provided, it will not be displayed publicly.
- Publication date: The initial date this item was first formally published. This date is optional. If this date is not provided, it will not be displayed publicly.
Please note: some of these dates are configurable by your institution and if your institution has decided not to enable them, they will not appear as options to configure.
System-generated dates that cannot be edited:
- Posted Date (generated when creating a public version): The date of the latest public version. If there is no public version, no date will appear. This is a system-generated date and cannot be edited.
- Revision Date (generated when a revision is posted): Once a public version exists, any further changes that are accepted will generate a new revision date
Once you’ve made any date amends, be sure to click on ‘Save changes’.
