diff --git a/.github/workflows/check_pr_release_notes.yml b/.github/workflows/check_pr_release_notes.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be70f4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/check_pr_release_notes.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2023 ABSA Group Limited
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+name: Check PR Release Notes in Description
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened, edited, labeled, unlabeled]
+    branches: [ master ]
+
+env:
+  SKIP_LABEL: 'no RN'
+  RLS_NOTES_TAG_REGEX: 'Release Notes:'
+
+jobs:
+  check-pr-release-notes:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Get Pull Request Info
+        id: pr_info
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const pr_number = context.payload.pull_request.number;
+            const pr = await github.rest.pulls.get({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              pull_number: pr_number
+            });
+            const labels = pr.data.labels ? pr.data.labels.map(label => label.name) : [];
+
+            if (labels.includes("${{ env.SKIP_LABEL }}")) {
+              console.log("Skipping release notes check because '${{ env.SKIP_LABEL }}' label is present.");
+              core.setOutput("skip_check", 'true');
+              core.setOutput("pr_body", "");
+              return;
+            }
+
+            const pr_body = pr.data.body;
+            if (!pr_body) {
+              core.setFailed("Pull request description is empty.");
+              core.setOutput("pr_body", "");
+              core.setOutput("skip_check", 'false');
+              return;
+            }
+            core.setOutput("pr_body", pr_body);
+            core.setOutput("skip_check", 'false');
+            return;
+
+      - name: Skip check if SKIP_LABEL is present
+        if: steps.pr_info.outputs.skip_check == 'true'
+        run: echo "Skipping release notes validation."
+
+      - name: Check for 'Release Notes:' and bullet list
+        if: steps.pr_info.outputs.skip_check == 'false'
+        run: |
+          # Extract the body from the previous step
+          PR_BODY="${{ steps.pr_info.outputs.pr_body }}"
+
+          # Check if "Release Notes:" exists
+          if ! echo "$PR_BODY" | grep -q '${{ env.RLS_NOTES_TAG_REGEX }}'; then
+            echo "Error: release notes tag not found in pull request description. Has to adhere to format '${{ env.RLS_NOTES_TAG_REGEX }}'."
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
+          # Extract text after "Release Notes:" line
+          TEXT_BELOW_RELEASE_NOTES_TAG=$(echo "$PR_BODY" | sed -n '/${{ env.RLS_NOTES_TAG_REGEX }}/,$p' | tail -n +2)
+
+          # Check if there's a bullet list (lines starting with '-', '+' or '*')
+          if ! echo "$TEXT_BELOW_RELEASE_NOTES_TAG" | grep -qE '^\s*[-+*]\s+.+$'; then
+            echo "Error: No bullet list found under release notes tag."
+            exit 1
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release_draft.yml b/.github/workflows/release_draft.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d944cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release_draft.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+#
+# Copyright 2021 ABSA Group Limited
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+name: Release - create draft release
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tagName:
+        description: 'Name of git tag to be created, and then draft release created. Syntax: "v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+".'
+        required: true
+
+jobs:
+  tag:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+      # the following step is disabled because it doesn't order the version tags correctly
+#      - name: Validate format of received tag
+#        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+#        with:
+#          script: |
+#            const newTag = core.getInput('tag-name');
+#            const regex = /^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$/;
+#
+#            if (!regex.test(newTag)) {
+#              core.setFailed('Tag does not match the required format "v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+"');
+#              return;
+#            }
+#
+#            // get all tags
+#            const { data: refs } = await github.rest.git.listMatchingRefs({
+#              owner: context.repo.owner,
+#              repo: context.repo.repo,
+#              ref: 'tags/'
+#            });
+#
+#            const latestTag = refs.sort((a, b) => new Date(b.object.date) - new Date(a.object.date))[0].ref.replace('refs/tags/', '');
+#            const latestVersion = latestTag.replace('v', '').split('.').map(Number);
+#            const newVersion = newTag.replace('v', '').split('.').map(Number);
+#
+#            // check tag's correct version increase
+#            const isValidVersion = (latestVersion[0] === newVersion[0] && latestVersion[1] === newVersion[1] && newVersion[2] === latestVersion[2] + 1) ||
+#              (latestVersion[0] === newVersion[0] && newVersion[1] === latestVersion[1] + 1 && newVersion[2] === 0) ||
+#              (newVersion[0] === latestVersion[0] + 1 && newVersion[1] === 0 && newVersion[2] === 0);
+#
+#            if (!isValidVersion) {
+#              core.setFailed('New tag is not one version higher than the latest tag');
+#              return;
+#            }
+#          tag-name: ${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+
+      - name: Create and push tag
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
+        with:
+          script: |
+            const tag = core.getInput('tag-name')
+            const ref = `refs/tags/${tag}`;
+            const sha = context.sha; // The SHA of the commit to tag
+            const tagMessage = `${tag} released by GitHub Action`;
+
+            const tagObject = await github.rest.git.createTag({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              tag: tag,
+              message: tagMessage,
+              object: sha,
+              type: 'commit',
+              tagger: {
+                name: context.actor,
+                email: `${context.actor}@users.noreply.github.com`,
+                date: new Date().toISOString()
+              }
+            });
+
+            await github.rest.git.createRef({
+              owner: context.repo.owner,
+              repo: context.repo.repo,
+              ref: ref,
+              sha: tagObject.data.sha
+            });
+
+            console.log(`Tag created: ${tag}`);
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          tag-name: ${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+
+  release-draft:
+    needs: tag
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
+          ref: refs/tags/${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5.1.1
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.11'
+
+      - name: Generate release notes
+        id: generate_release_notes
+        uses: AbsaOSS/generate-release-notes@feature/55-Chapter-line-formatting-authors
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          tag-name: ${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+          chapters: '[
+            {"title": "No entry 🚫", "label": "duplicate"},
+            {"title": "No entry 🚫", "label": "invalid"},
+            {"title": "No entry 🚫", "label": "wontfix"},
+            {"title": "No entry 🚫", "label": "no RN"},
+            {"title": "Breaking Changes 💥", "label": "breaking-change"},
+            {"title": "New Features 🎉", "label": "enhancement"},
+            {"title": "New Features 🎉", "label": "feature"},
+            {"title": "Bugfixes 🛠", "label": "bug"},
+            {"title": "Infrastructure ⚙️", "label": "infrastructure"},
+            {"title": "Silent-live 🤫", "label": "silent-live"},
+            {"title": "Documentation 📜", "label": "documentation"}
+          ]'
+          duplicity-scope: 'service'
+          duplicity-icon: '🔁'
+          warnings: true
+          skip-release-notes-label: "no RN"
+          print-empty-chapters: false
+          chapters-to-pr-without-issue: true
+          row-format-issue: '_{title}_ {developed-by} {co-authored-by} in #{number}'
+          row-format-pr: '_{title}_ {developed-by} {co-authored-by} in #{number}'
+          row-format-link-pr: true
+
+      - name: Create draft release
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+        with:
+          name: ${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+          body: ${{ steps.generate_release_notes.outputs.releaseNotes }}
+          tag_name: ${{ github.event.inputs.tagName }}
+          draft: true
+          prerelease: false
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release_publish.yml
similarity index 69%
rename from .github/workflows/release.yml
rename to .github/workflows/release_publish.yml
index 4b00ae6..966a376 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release_publish.yml
@@ -14,19 +14,29 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
-name: Release
+name: Release - publish artifacts
 on:
-  workflow_dispatch:
+  release:
+    types: [released]
 
 jobs:
-  publish:
+  publish-to-sonatype:
+    name: Publish to Sonatype
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2.3.4
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-      - uses: olafurpg/setup-scala@v13
-      - run: sbt ci-release
+      - uses: coursier/cache-action@v5
+
+      - name: Setup Scala
+        uses: olafurpg/setup-scala@v14
+        with:
+          java-version: "adopt@1.8"
+
+      - name: Run sbt ci-release
+        run: sbt ci-release
         env:
           PGP_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.PGP_PASSPHRASE }}
           PGP_SECRET: ${{ secrets.PGP_SECRET }}