diff --git a/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php b/classes/components/forms/publication/PublishForm.php
index f799ea52e3b..3ee355a3207 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
  *
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
 use PKP\core\Core;
 use PKP\core\PKPString;
 use PKP\facades\Locale;
+use PKP\publication\enums\VersionStage;
 
 class PublishForm extends FormComponent
 {
@@ -84,6 +86,23 @@ public function __construct($action, $publication, $submissionContext, $requirem
                 );
                 $submitLabel = __('publication.publish');
             }
+
+            // If publication does not have a version stage assigned
+            $publicationVersion = $publication->getCurrentVersionData();
+            if (!isset($publicationVersion)) {
+                $submission = Repo::submission()->get($publication->getData('submissionId'));
+                $nextVersionData = Repo::submission()->getNextAvailableVersionData($submission, VersionStage::VERSION_OF_RECORD, false);
+
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage') . '</p>';
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage.assignment', [
+                    'versionDataDisplay' => $nextVersionData->display()
+                ]) . '</p>';
+            } else {
+                $msg .= '<p>' . __('publication.required.versionStage.alreadyAssignment', [
+                    'versionDataDisplay' => $publicationVersion->display()
+                ]) . '</p>';
+            }
+
             $this->addPage([
                 'id' => 'default',
                 'submitButton' => [
diff --git a/classes/publication/DAO.php b/classes/publication/DAO.php
index 43cb04fd063..34c592b3488 100644
--- a/classes/publication/DAO.php
+++ b/classes/publication/DAO.php
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <?php
+
 /**
  * @file classes/publication/DAO.php
  *
@@ -29,8 +30,11 @@ 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',
+
     ];
 
     /**
diff --git a/classes/publication/Repository.php b/classes/publication/Repository.php
index 9fc89754809..69035d00325 100644
--- a/classes/publication/Repository.php
+++ b/classes/publication/Repository.php
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <?php
+
 /**
  * @file classes/publication/Repository.php
  *
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
 use PKP\core\PKPString;
 use PKP\db\DAORegistry;
 use PKP\publication\Collector;
+use PKP\publication\enums\VersionStage;
 
 class Repository extends \PKP\publication\Repository
 {
@@ -128,9 +130,9 @@ public function validatePublish(Publication $publication, Submission $submission
     }
 
     /** @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/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml b/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
index ddb3babf75d..4d61b72c854 100644
--- a/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
+++ b/dbscripts/xml/upgrade.xml
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@
 		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_5_0\I10292_UpdateControlledVocabAssocId"/>
 		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_5_0\I10292_UpdateControlledVocabEntrySettingName"/>
 		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_5_0\FilterClassNames"/>
+		<migration class="PKP\migration\upgrade\v3_5_0\I4860_MigratePublicationVersion"/>
 		<note file="docs/release-notes/README-3.5.0" />
 	</upgrade>
 
diff --git a/templates/authorDashboard/authorDashboard.tpl b/templates/authorDashboard/authorDashboard.tpl
index b6fa81767bb..db093266cd8 100644
--- a/templates/authorDashboard/authorDashboard.tpl
+++ b/templates/authorDashboard/authorDashboard.tpl
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
 							<span v-else class="pkpPublication__statusUnpublished">{translate key="publication.status.unpublished"}</span>
 						</span>
 							<span v-if="publicationList.length > 1" class="pkpPublication__version">
-								<strong tabindex="0">{{ versionLabel }}</strong> {{ workingPublication.version }}
+								<strong tabindex="0">{{ versionLabel }}</strong> {{ workingPublication.versionDataDisplay }}
 								<dropdown
 									class="pkpPublication__versions"
 									label="{translate key="publication.version.all"}"
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
 												:disabled="publication.id === workingPublication.id"
 												@click="setWorkingPublicationById(publication.id)"
 											>
-												{{ publication.version }} /
+												{{ publication.versionDataDisplay }} /
 												<template v-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_QUEUED') && publication.id === currentPublication.id">{translate key="publication.status.unscheduled"}</template>
 												<template v-else-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_SCHEDULED')">{translate key="publication.status.scheduled"}</template>
 												<template v-else-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_PUBLISHED')">{translate key="publication.status.published"}</template>
diff --git a/templates/frontend/objects/article_details.tpl b/templates/frontend/objects/article_details.tpl
index b55dd8aadb4..44e78889c0a 100755
--- a/templates/frontend/objects/article_details.tpl
+++ b/templates/frontend/objects/article_details.tpl
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@
 						</h2>
 						<ul class="value">
 							{foreach from=array_reverse($article->getPublishedPublications()) item=iPublication}
-								{capture assign="name"}{translate key="submission.versionIdentity" datePublished=$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('versionDataDisplay')}{/capture}
 								<li>
 									{if $iPublication->getId() === $publication->getId()}
 										{$name}
diff --git a/templates/workflow/workflow.tpl b/templates/workflow/workflow.tpl
index 3a758c4807a..375c92eb320 100644
--- a/templates/workflow/workflow.tpl
+++ b/templates/workflow/workflow.tpl
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
 							<span v-else class="pkpPublication__statusUnpublished">{translate key="publication.status.unpublished"}</span>
 						</span>
 						<span v-if="publicationList.length > 1" class="pkpPublication__version">
-							<strong tabindex="0">{{ versionLabel }}</strong> {{ workingPublication.version }}
+							<strong tabindex="0">{{ versionLabel }}</strong> {{ workingPublication.versionDataDisplay }}
 							<dropdown
 								class="pkpPublication__versions"
 								label="{translate key="publication.version.all"}"
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@
 											:disabled="publication.id === workingPublication.id"
 											@click="setWorkingPublicationById(publication.id)"
 										>
-											{{ publication.version }} /
+											{{ publication.versionDataDisplay }} /
 											<template v-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_QUEUED') && publication.id === currentPublication.id">{translate key="publication.status.unscheduled"}</template>
 											<template v-else-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_SCHEDULED')">{translate key="publication.status.scheduled"}</template>
 											<template v-else-if="publication.status === getConstant('STATUS_PUBLISHED')">{{ publication.datePublished }}</template>