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Below is a quote from an article Scrum software development:

Since 2009, a public document called The Scrum Guide[18] has been published and updated by Schwaber and Sutherland. It has been revised 6 times, with the current version being November 2020.

Why is the present perfect used in "It has been revised 6 times"? Why not the simple past tense? Could the simple past tense be used here? What would be the difference?

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The choice of tense carries the implication that the document may well be revised again. The paragraph implies that it is being regularly updated.

It was revised six times would be used if a book had been repeatedly edited and then finally published in its definitive form.

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  • Is it still possible for a native English speaker to use the simple past here: "It was revised 6 times, with the current version being November 2020". In other words, does this sentence strike you as being non natural, non common?
    – Daniel
    Commented Apr 4, 2021 at 8:37
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    It's not a question of how 'common' the expression is - it conveys the idea that the document is not expected to be revised again, which doesn't fit with the second phrase about the 'current' version.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Apr 4, 2021 at 9:15
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It has been revised 6 times, with the current version being November 2020.

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It was revised 6 times[.]

The present perfect tense version expresses a likelihood that the document may be further revised. The subordinate clause, with 'current', further reinforces this point.

The simple past tense version gives a sense that there should not be any further revision. The subordinate clause in example 1 will probably not be used.

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