diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2680c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Contributing guidelines
+
+Any contribution is appreciated! You might want to:
+
+* Fix spelling errors
+* Improve documentation
+* Add tests for untested code
+* Add new features
+* Fix bugs
+
+## How can I contribute?
+
+* Use [issues](https://github.com/pdfminer/pdfminer.six/issues) to report bugs and features
+    - If you report a bug in the results for a particular pdf, include that pdf. This allows others to replicate the
+     issue. 
+* Fix issues by [creating pull requests](https://help.github.com/en/articles/creating-a-pull-request)
+* Help others giving your thoughts on open issues and pull requests.
+
+## General guidelines for creating issues and pull requests
+
+* Search previous issues, as yours might be a duplicate.
+* When creating a new issue for a bug, include a minimal reproducible example.
+* When creating a new issue for a feature, be sure to describe the context of the problem you are trying to solve. This
+  will help others to see the importance of your feature request. 
+* Link pull request to a single issue.
+* Pull requests should be merged to develop, not master. This ensures that master always equals the released verion.  
+* Include unit tests when possible. In case of bugs, this will help to prevent the same mistake in the future. In case 
+  of features, this will show that your code works correctly.
+* Code should work for Python 2.7 and Python 3.x (for now).
+* Code changes should conform to PEP8 coding style (with a line-width of 120). Existing code may stay as it is. 
+* New features should be well documented using docstrings.
+* Check spelling and grammar.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2a96278..4a863c5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@ TODO
  * Performance improvements.
 
 
+Contributing
+------------
+
+Be sure to read the [contribution guidelines](https://github.com/pdfminer/pdfminer.six/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md). 
+
+
 Terms and Conditions
 --------------------