diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 3c0bc3d6..19a2bf8d 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Type: Package
 Package: simstudy
 Title: Simulation of Study Data
-Version: 0.8.1
+Version: 0.8.1.9000
 Date: 2024-07-29
 Authors@R: 
     c(person(given = "Keith",
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 912407b0..54d2ea86 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+# simstudy (development version)
+
 # simstudy 0.8.1
 
 ## New features