Knowledge Articles repeatedly 'checked out' with no edits?

[CaitlynD]

I've noticed a few instances of knowledge articles (usually a translated version of an article) being checked out so a new version appears in draft status. I receive the email to say that an article has been checked out but it gives no information as to who has done it. We've also checked the audit and it gives no information. If they were to send the article into review state it would pick up their name at that stage.

I would potentially consider this human error but it is always the same few articles. No edits are ever made that I can see and no one mentions anything when I delete the draft.

So - is there a way I can see who is checking out these articles please and is there anything OOB in ServiceNow that might be causing this?

[CaitlynD]

Hello - to confirm these methods have been attempted - there is no information on who has created the drafts or why it happens every so often.

[kaushal_snow]

Hi @CaitlynD ,

This seems to be expected behavior with ServiceNow versioning. The system doesn't reliably capture the user performing the checkout in visible fields unless the checkout progresses to further states like review. When an article is left in Draft, the audit trail may not contain user details, and visible fields like Revised by can be unhelpful (blank or system)....

Below options you can look for:

Contact Knowledge Base Owner as the KB owner can override or edit the article, even if it's stuck in draft.
Delete the Unwanted Draft Version, If the draft is not needed, deleting it will revert to the last published version..

If you found my response helpful, please mark it as ‘Accept as Solution’ and ‘Helpful’. This helps other community members find the right answer more easily and supports the community.

[CaitlynD]

Thank you - yes while in draft state it gives me no information at all on who has checked it out. I am a knowledge manager so I have been deleting the drafts myself. It is, however, quite annoying to repeatedly find these drafts appearing every so often as it creates clutter and makes it difficult to see what articles actually require further attention.