diff --git a/.github/workflows/debug.yml b/.github/workflows/debug.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7404d5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/debug.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+### github action to publish a debug
+##
+name: "debug"
+
+## Controls when the workflow will run
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [ github-action ]
+
+  ## Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+## A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
+jobs:
+  debug:
+    # needs: create_package
+    # The type of runner that the job will run on
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    # Steps represent a sequence of tasks that will be executed as part of the job
+    steps:
+      - name: "checkout"
+        # Checks-out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your job can access it
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+        ## opening a debug console
+      - name: Setup upterm session
+        env:
+          ZENODO_SANDBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ZENODO_SANDBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+        uses: lhotari/action-upterm@v1
+        with:
+          limit-access-to-actor: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 5bc96b8..33f64f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -4,52 +4,121 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       version:
-        description: "Version to register or component to bump (without leading 'v' e.g. '1.0.1')"
+        description: "Version to register (without leading 'v' and semantic versioning schema, e.g. '1.0.1')"
         required: true
 
 jobs:
   create_package:
     name: "create package"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      previous_version: ${{ steps.version_test.outputs.previous_version }}
     steps:
       # 1. checkout the repo
       - name: "checkout"
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      # 2. create release notes
-      - name: "create release notes"
+      # 2. test if provided version number fits in semantic versioning schema
+      - name: "test version number"
+        id: version_test
         run: |
           VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+          echo "check if version follows the semantic version pattern"
+          SEM_VER_REGEX="^(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)\.(0|[1-9]\d*)$"
           STATUS=0
-          grep -qs "Version \[$VERSION\]" CHANGELOG.md || STATUS=1
+          if [[ ! $VERSION =~ $SEM_VER_REGEX ]]; then
+            STATUS=1
+          fi
           if [ $STATUS = 1 ]; then
-            echo "Version $VERSION is not present in CHANGELOG.md."
+            echo "Version $VERSION does not follow the semantic versioning schema."
+            echo "Please see https://semver.org/ for further information."
             exit 1
           fi
-          TOP=$(grep -n "Version \[$VERSION\]" CHANGELOG.md | cut -d: -f1)
-          awk "NR>$TOP" CHANGELOG.md > release-note.tmp.md
-          BOTTOM=$(grep -n -m 1 "## Version\|[Unreleased]:" release-note.tmp.md | cut -d: -f1)
-          BOTTOM=$(( $TOP + $BOTTOM ))
-          BOTTOM=$(( $BOTTOM - 2 ))
+          echo "check if version was already used"
+          grep -qs "Version \[$VERSION\]" CHANGELOG.md && STATUS=1
+          if [ $STATUS = 1 ]; then
+            echo "Version $VERSION is already present in CHANGELOG.md."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "check if version is an increment"
+          VERSION_MAJOR=$(echo $VERSION | cut -d. -f1 )
+          VERSION_MINOR=$(echo $VERSION | cut -d. -f2 )
+          VERSION_PATCH=$(echo $VERSION | cut -d. -f3 )
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION=$(grep -n -m 1 "## Version \[*.*.*\]" CHANGELOG.md | cut -d[ -f2 | cut -d] -f1)
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION_MAJOR=$(echo $PREVIOUS_VERSION | cut -d. -f1 )
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION_MINOR=$(echo $PREVIOUS_VERSION | cut -d. -f2 )
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION_PATCH=$(echo $PREVIOUS_VERSION | cut -d. -f3 )
+          if [[ $VERSION_MAJOR -eq PREVIOUS_VERSION_MAJOR ]]; then
+            if [[ $VERSION_MINOR -eq PREVIOUS_VERSION_MINOR ]]; then
+              if [[ $(($VERSION_PATCH - 1)) -ne PREVIOUS_VERSION_PATCH ]]; then
+                STATUS=1
+              fi
+            else
+              if [[ $(($VERSION_MINOR - 1)) -eq PREVIOUS_VERSION_MINOR ]]; then
+                if [[ $VERSION_PATCH -ne 0 ]]; then
+                  STATUS=1
+                fi
+              else
+                STATUS=1
+              fi
+            fi
+          else
+            if [[ $(($VERSION_MAJOR - 1)) -eq PREVIOUS_VERSION_MAJOR ]]; then
+              if [[ $VERSION_MINOR -ne 0 ]]; then
+                STATUS=1
+              fi
+              if [[ $VERSION_PATCH -ne 0 ]]; then
+                STATUS=1
+              fi
+            else
+              STATUS=1
+            fi
+          fi
+          if [ $STATUS = 1 ]; then
+            echo "Version $VERSION skipped steps from the previous version $PREVIOUS_VERSION and thus does not follow the semantic versioning schema."
+            echo "Please see https://semver.org/ for further information."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "::set-output name=previous_version::$(version_test deposition show prereserved $PREVIOUS_VERSION)"
+
+      # 3. create release note
+      - name: "create release note"
+        run: |
+          VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION=${{ needs.create_package.outputs.previous_version }}
+          STATUS=0
+          echo "create release note"
+          TOP=$(grep -n "## \[Unreleased\]" CHANGELOG.md | cut -d: -f1)
           TOP=$(( $TOP + 1 ))
+          BOTTOM=$(grep -n -m 1 "## Version \[$PREVIOUS_VERSION\]" CHANGELOG.md | cut -d: -f1)
+          BOTTOM=$(( $BOTTOM - 1 ))
           awk "NR>$TOP&&NR<$BOTTOM" CHANGELOG.md > release-note-v$VERSION.md
           sed -i -- "s/###/##/g" release-note-v$VERSION.md
-          rm release-note.tmp.md
+          echo "check if release note is empty"
+          WORD_COUNT=$(wc -w release-note-v$VERSION.md | awk '{print $1}')
+          if [[ $WORD_COUNT -lt 4 ]]; then
+            STATUS=1
+          fi
+          if [ $STATUS = 1 ]; then
+            echo "Please provide a meaningful CHANGELOG.md for the new version $VERSION"
+            exit 1
+          fi
 
-      # 3. Update metadata.json
-      - name: "Update metadata.json"
+      # 4. Update zenodo metadata.json
+      - name: "Update zenodo metadata.json"
         run: |
           VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
           sed -i".backup" -e"s/\"version\": \"%%\[SCRIPT\]\"/\"version\": \"$VERSION\"/g" .github/zenodo/metadata.json
 
-      # 4. create release archive
-      - uses: papeloto/action-zip@v1
+      # 5. create release archive
+      - name: "create release archive"
+        uses: papeloto/action-zip@v1
         with:
           files: docs src test README.md LICENSE Project.toml
           recursive: false
           dest: TrainRuns.jl-v${{ github.event.inputs.version }}.zip
 
-      # 5. upload artifact to share it with other jobs
+      # 6. upload artifact to share it with other jobs
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
         with:
           path: |
@@ -130,9 +199,9 @@ jobs:
           zenodraft deposition publish $ID
           echo "::set-output name=doi::$(zenodraft deposition show prereserved $ID)"
 
-  update_citation:
+  update_repo:
     needs: publish_zenodo
-    name: "updating CITATION.cff"
+    name: "updating CITATION.cff and CHANGELOG.md"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       # 1. checkout the repo
@@ -140,12 +209,13 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
       
       # 2. update CITATION.cff
-      - run: |
+      - name: "update CITATION.cff"
+        run: |
           DATE=$(date "+%Y-%m-%d")
           VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
-          DOI=${{needs.publish_zenodo.outputs.doi}}
+          DOI=${{ needs.publish_zenodo.outputs.doi }}
           echo "find lines in CITATION.cff"
-          VERSION_LINE=$(grep -n 'version: [0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9].[0-1][0-9]' CITATION.cff | cut -d: -f1)
+          VERSION_LINE=$(grep -n '^version:' CITATION.cff | cut -d: -f1)
           DATE_LINE=$(grep -n 'date-released:' CITATION.cff | cut -d: -f1)
           echo "select the second DOI"
           DOI_LINE=$(grep -n 'type: doi' CITATION.cff | cut -d: -f1 | awk "NR==2")
@@ -155,17 +225,28 @@ jobs:
           sed -i -- "${DATE_LINE}s|.*|date-released: ${DATE}|" CITATION.cff
           sed -i -- "${DOI_LINE}s|.*|    value: $DOI|" CITATION.cff
       
-      # 3. push the change back to main
+      # 3. update CHANGELOG.md
+      - name: "update CHANGELOG.md"
+        run: |
+          DATE=$(date "+%Y-%m-%d")
+          VERSION=${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+          URL="https://github.com/railtoolkit/TrainRuns.jl/compare"
+          PREVIOUS_VERSION=${{ needs.create_package.outputs.previous_version }}
+          echo "increment CHANGELOG.md"
+          sed -i -- "/## \[Unreleased\]/a\\\n\n## Version [$VERSION] $DATE" CHANGELOG.md
+          sed -i -- "s|^\[Unreleased\]: .*$|\[Unreleased\]: $URL/v$VERSION...main\n\[$VERSION\]: $URL/v$PREVIOUS_VERSION...v$VERSION|" CHANGELOG.md
+      
+      # 4. push the change back to main
       - name: push
         uses: EndBug/add-and-commit@v9
         with:
-          message: "DOI updated to ${{needs.create_package.outputs.version}} (via github action)"
-          add: CITATION.cff
+          message: "DOI updated to ${{ github.event.inputs.version }} (via github action)"
+          add: CITATION.cff CHANGELOG.md
           author_name: railtoolkit
           author_email: railtoolkit@ownx.net
 
   register:
-    needs: update_citation
+    needs: update_repo
     name: "publish in JuliaRegistries"
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps: