Help, name spelled wrong on publication!

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narla_hotep

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This past May I got published for the first time for a project I helped with at a summer internship back in 2016. I got a copy of the manuscript to review during the publication process, and I saw my last name was spelled wrong. I asked the PI from that lab to correct it, and he said he would fix it. Then I heard nothing until the final update that it was being published in Science Advances. Okay, cool. I thought nothing more of it. I was a very minor author and was very busy at the time so I didn't ask to see the manuscript again (Definitely should have, in retrospect.)

Then today, I realized I couldn't find myself when I searched my name on pubmed. I did some digging, and found that the paper was indeed published.... With my last name still spelled wrong. Is there anything that can be done about this now, after it has already been published months ago? Also, how important is this misspelling in the larger scheme of things, especially since I will be getting married in early 2021 and am planning to take my future husband's last name, so any future pubs will have a different last name anyway?

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Since it's been published pretty recently you could reach our to the editor to submit a correction. At the very least they should be able to resubmit information to be indexed in pubmed. If it's only been published online so far you might be able to get it corrected in time for print.
- I had a similar issue where the order of authors was incorrect and was able to submit a correction through the journal website.

Even if it goes uncorrected I don't think it's that important career-wise because you can still list it on your CV. Since you are changing your name you should also be getting an ORCID id which you use to tag the publication as your own.
 
Just send editor of publication email, there’s a contact email on the journal website. This is s thing that happens sometimes but doesn’t jeopardize the credit you’re due
 
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