diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.rst b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52cacf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Contributing to simplicial
+==========================
+
+Please see the documentation page for simplicial's contribution policy:
+
+https://simplicial.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing.html
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ab9349
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+We'd like to record, acknowledge, and thank the following people for
+their contributions to simplicial:
+
+- Oleksander Konovalov (continuous integration)
+- Keirn Munro (barycentric deomposition)
diff --git a/doc/contributing.rst b/doc/contributing.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..452ffc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/contributing.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+Contributing
+============
+
+``simplicial`` is an open-source project, and we welcome comments, issue
+reports, requests for new features, and (especially!) code for new
+features.
+
+
+To report an issue
+------------------
+
+Issue ("bug") reports are handled through ``simplicial``'s GitHub
+repository. To report an issue, go to
+https://github.com/simoninireland/simplicial/issues
+and click the "New issue" button.
+
+Please be as specific as possible about the problem. Code that
+illustrates an issue is very welcome, but please make it as simple as
+possible!
+
+
+To request a feature
+--------------------
+
+If you simply want to suggest a feature, please open an issue report
+as above.
+
+
+To contribute a feature
+-----------------------
+
+If on the other hand you have proposed code for a new feature, please
+create a pull request containing your proposal, with using ``git``
+directly or through GitHub's `Pull requests manager <https://github.com/simoninireland/simplicial/pulls>`_.
+
+In submitting a pull request, please include:
+
+- a clear description of what the code does, and what it adds to
+  ``simplicial`` for a general user;
+- well-commented code, including docstrings for methods;
+- types for all methods using Python's `type hints <https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html>`_;
+- a tutorial and/or cookbook recipe to illustrate the new feature in
+  use; and
+- tests in the ``test/`` sub-directory that let us automatically test
+  any new features.
+
+Please don't neglect the tests. We use continuous integration for
+``simplicial`` to keep everything working, so it's important that new
+features provide automated unit tests. Please also don't neglect
+documentation, and remember that docstrings aren't enough on their own.
+
+We use the `Python black coding style <https://pypi.org/project/black/>`_,
+and it'd be helpful if any pulled code did the same. We use type
+annotations to improve maintainability.
+
+
+Installing the codebase
+-----------------------
+
+To get your own copy of the codebase, simply clone the repo from
+GitHub and (optionally) create your own branch to work on
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+   # clone the repo
+   git clone git@github.com:simoninireland/simplicial.git
+   cd epydemic
+
+   # create a new branch to work on
+   git branch my-new-feature
+
+The makefile has several targets that are needed for development:
+
+- ``make env`` build a virtual environment with all the necessary
+  libraries. This include both those that ``epyc`` needs to run
+  (specified in ``requirements.txt``, and those that are simply needed
+  when developing and testing (specified in ``dev-requirements.txt``)
+- ``make test`` runs the test suite. This consists of a *lot* of
+  tests, some of which do a lot of work, and so this may take some time
+- ``make clean`` delete s a lo of constructed files for a clean build
+- ``make reallyclean`` also deletes the venv
+
+Calling ``make`` on its own prints all the available targets.
+
+
+Copyrights on code
+------------------
+
+You retain copyright over any code you submit that's incorporated in
+``simplicial``'s code base, and this will be noted in the source code
+comments and elsewhere.
+
+We will only accept code that's licensed with the same license as
+``simplicial`` itself (currently `GPLv3
+<https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html>`_). Please indicate
+this clearly in the headers of *all* source files to avoid confusion.
+Please also note that we may need an explicit declaration from your
+employer that this work can be released under GPL: see
+https://www.gnu.org/licenses/ for details.