How to write a correction notice for a published article.

Decide whether it needs a notice

Sort the change into one of three kinds. A typo or broken formatting that does not alter the meaning can usually be fixed without comment. A clarification adds context to a statement that was not wrong but could be misread. A correction replaces a statement that was wrong. Only the last two need to be visible to the reader. This sorting is a suggested working rule, not an official standard.

If you are unsure, ask what a reader who acted on the old text would want to know. Someone who copied a wrong deadline, number or instruction needs to be told. Someone who read “teh” does not.

Check the new version before you publish it

Find the evidence for the replacement statement before editing. Open the source, read the passage and confirm that it supports the new wording. A correction written from memory can add a second error to the first.

Search the article for every place the mistake appears: the title, description, headings, lists, captions and any summary near the top. Then check other pages of yours that link to or repeat the claim. Fixing only the paragraph where you spotted it is the most common way to leave the error live.

Write the notice

A notice should say four things in plain words: the date of the change, what the text said before, what it says now and, if useful, the reason. Put it where a reader will see it, such as directly under the title or at the end of the affected section, not in a footer nobody scrolls to. Keep the tone factual. You do not need to apologise at length or explain how the mistake happened unless that helps the reader trust the fix.

Fictional example. An article on shared drafts said: “Version numbers should start at v00.” The author checks the team convention and finds it starts at v01. The notice reads: “Correction, 12 October 2026: this guide originally said version numbers should start at v00. The convention described is v01. The text and the example file names have been updated.” It states the old claim, the new one and what was touched.

Handle dates honestly

Keep the original publication date; the article was still first published then. Add a separate last-updated date when you make a material change. Google’s documentation on byline dates says you can provide a publication date and a last-updated date, and that the dates in visible content and structured data should be consistent. Its Article structured data guidance describes datePublished as when the article was first published and dateModified as when it was most recently modified.

Do not refresh the date for a cosmetic edit to make the page look new. A last-updated date should mean that something substantive changed, and the notice should say what.

Keep a small correction log

A log like this takes a few minutes and saves you from repeating the investigation if the same question comes back. It also shows you whether mistakes cluster, for example in numbers copied from a source without rechecking.

• Page: the exact URL that was changed.
• Old statement and new statement, copied exactly.
• Evidence: the source you checked, with the date you opened it.
• Where else the claim appeared, and whether each place was fixed.
• Date of the change and where the notice appears.
• Who reported it, if a reader did, and whether you replied.

What a notice cannot do

A notice does not reach people who already read or shared the old version, and it does not guarantee that copies elsewhere will change. If the mistake could cause real harm, such as wrong safety, money or legal information, also contact the people you know acted on it through the channel you originally used. A notice is a record of the fix, not a replacement for expert review of high-stakes content.

Use this next

• Check links and sources before publishing
• An editing checklist for your next article
• Name shared drafts clearly