diff --git a/.github/workflows/weekly-preview.yml b/.github/workflows/weekly-preview.yml
index 6a2d07386f..23f10426f8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/weekly-preview.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/weekly-preview.yml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ jobs:
         export YEAR_WEEK=$(date +'%y%U')
         echo "Year week for tag is ${YEAR_WEEK}"
         if ! [[ $YEAR_WEEK =~ ^[0-9]{4}$ ]] ; then echo "Wrong 'year week' format.  Should be 4 digits."; exit 1 ; fi
-        git tag "1.6.dev${YEAR_WEEK}"
+        git tag "1.7.dev${YEAR_WEEK}"
         git log -1
         git tag --list
         python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c89d723dfc..fe1c5b41a5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.6.0] - 2026-05-??
+
+
+
 ## [1.5.2] - 2026-01-28
 
 ## What's Changed
@@ -1267,7 +1271,8 @@ the postprocessing steps should be used before calling the metrics methods
 
 [highlights]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/blob/master/docs/source/highlights.md
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.5.2...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.6.0...HEAD
+[1.6.0]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.5.2...1.6.0
 [1.5.2]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.5.1...1.5.2
 [1.5.1]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.5.0...1.5.1
 [1.5.0]: https://github.com/Project-MONAI/MONAI/compare/1.4.0...1.5.0
diff --git a/CITATION.cff b/CITATION.cff
index c64aa0169d..fdaede4465 100644
--- a/CITATION.cff
+++ b/CITATION.cff
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ abstract: "AI Toolkit for Healthcare Imaging"
 authors:
   - name: "MONAI Consortium"
 date-released: 2026-01-29
-version: "1.5.2"
+version: "1.6.0"
 identifiers:
   - description: "This DOI represents all versions of MONAI, and will always resolve to the latest one."
     type: doi
diff --git a/docs/source/whatsnew.rst b/docs/source/whatsnew.rst
index 1fa4680055..a58408231a 100644
--- a/docs/source/whatsnew.rst
+++ b/docs/source/whatsnew.rst
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ What's New
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
+   whatsnew_1_6.md
    whatsnew_1_5_2.md
    whatsnew_1_5_1.md
    whatsnew_1_5.md
diff --git a/docs/source/whatsnew_1_5_2.md b/docs/source/whatsnew_1_5_2.md
index 7a468956c5..e07bcb23e2 100644
--- a/docs/source/whatsnew_1_5_2.md
+++ b/docs/source/whatsnew_1_5_2.md
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-# What's new in 1.5.2 🎉🎉
+# What's new in 1.5.2
 
 This is a minor update for MONAI to address a security concern.
 
diff --git a/docs/source/whatsnew_1_6.md b/docs/source/whatsnew_1_6.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4135362ad2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/whatsnew_1_6.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+
+# What's new in 1.6.0 🎉🎉