diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
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+# Contributing Guidelines
+
+There are many ways to contribute to Aztec Monorepo.
+
+## Opening an issue
+
+You can [open an issue] to suggest a feature or report a minor bug.
+
+Before opening an issue, be sure to search through the existing open and closed issues, and consider posting a comment in one of those instead.
+
+When requesting a new feature, include as many details as you can, especially around the use cases that motivate it. Features are prioritized according to the impact they may have on the ecosystem, so we appreciate information showing that the impact could be high.
+
+[open an issue]: https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/issues/new
+
+## Submitting a pull request
+
+If you would like to contribute code or documentation you may do so by forking the repository and submitting a pull request.
+
+Any non-trivial code contribution must be first discussed with the maintainers in an issue (see [Opening an issue](#opening-an-issue)). Only very minor changes are accepted without prior discussion.
+
+When opening the pull request you will be presented with a template and a series of instructions. Read through it carefully and follow all the steps. Expect a review and feedback from the maintainers afterward.
+
+If you're looking for a good place to start, look for issues labeled ["good first issue"](https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/labels/good%20first%20issue)!
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ All packages need to be included in the [build manifest](`build_manifest.json`),
 
 Logging goes through the [`info` and `debug`](circuits/cpp/barretenberg/cpp/src/barretenberg/common/log.hpp) functions in C++, and through the [DebugLogger](yarn-project/foundation/src/log/debug.ts) module in Typescript. To see the log output, set a `DEBUG` environment variable to the name of the module you want to debug, to `aztec:*`, or to `*` to see all logs.
 
-## Contributing
 
-To contribute, make sure to pick an existing issue and assign yourself to it, or notify that you'll be working on it. If you're new to the repository, look for those tagged as [`good-first-issue`](https://github.com/AztecProtocol/aztec-packages/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22). Then send a pull request with your contribution, linking back to the issue it fixes.
+## Contribute
+
+There are many ways you can participate and help build high quality software. Check out the [contribution guide](CONTRIBUTING.md)!