I'm guessing it's the date of when it was/will be published in the print magazine. This article will be in the next edition of Scientific American if so. Edit:

I'm guessing it's the date of when it was/will be published in the print magazine. This article will be in the next edition of Scientific American if so. Edit: Yes, seems to be correct. https://www.scientificamerican.com/magazine/sa/2022/11-01/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/magazine/sa/2022/11-01/ shows which articles are featured in the November edition, all of which have the published date as November 1.