feat: Update contributing guidelines

CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

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+# Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct
+
+## Our Pledge
+
+In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as
+contributors and maintainers pledge to making participation in our project and
+our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body
+size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience,
+education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race,
+religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
+
+## Our Standards
+
+Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment
+include:
+
+* Using welcoming and inclusive language
+* Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
+* Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
+* Focusing on what is best for the community
+* Showing empathy towards other community members
+
+Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:
+
+* The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or
+  advances
+* Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
+* Public or private harassment
+* Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or electronic
+  address, without explicit permission
+* Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a
+  professional setting
+
+## Our Responsibilities
+
+Project maintainers are responsible for clarifying the standards of acceptable
+behavior and are expected to take appropriate and fair corrective action in
+response to any instances of unacceptable behavior.
+
+Project maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or
+reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions
+that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or
+permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate,
+threatening, offensive, or harmful.
+
+## Scope
+
+This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces
+when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of
+representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail
+address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed
+representative at an online or offline event. Representation of a project may be
+further defined and clarified by project maintainers.
+
+## Enforcement
+
+Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be
+reported by contacting one of the project maintainers (@andrew-schofield or @katheris). All
+complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that
+is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. The project team is
+obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident.
+Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.
+
+Project maintainers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good
+faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other
+members of the project's leadership.
+
+## Attribution
+
+This Code of Conduct is adapted from the [Contributor Covenant][homepage], version 1.4,
+available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct.html
+
+[homepage]: https://www.contributor-covenant.org

CONTRIBUTING.md

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+# Contributing to the Kafka Connect sink connector for IBM MQ
+
+Please note that this project is released with a [Contributor Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.
+
+## Pull requests are always welcome
+
+We are always thrilled to receive pull requests, and do our best to process them as fast as possible. Not sure if that typo is worth a pull request? Do it! We will appreciate it.
+
+To contribute code or documentation, please submit a [pull request](https://github.com/ibm-messaging/kafka-connect-mq-sink/pulls).
+
+A good way to familiarize yourself with the codebase and contribution process is
+to look for and tackle low-hanging fruit in the [issue tracker](https://github.com/ibm-messaging/kafka-connect-mq-sink/issues).
+
+## Create issues...
+If you would like to implement a new feature, please [raise an issue](https://github.com/ibm-messaging/kafka-connect-mq-sink/issues)
+before sending a pull request so the feature can be discussed before you start working on it.
+
+> Note: We appreciate your effort, and want to avoid a situation where a contribution
+requires extensive rework (by you or by us), sits in backlog for a long time, or
+cannot be accepted at all!
+
+### ...but check for existing issues first!
+
+Please take a moment to check that an issue doesn't already exist documenting your bug report or improvement proposal. If it does, it never hurts to add a quick "+1" or "I have this problem too". This will help prioritize the most common problems and requests.
+
+### Merge approval
+
+The project maintainers use LGTM (Looks Good To Me) in comments on the code
+review to indicate acceptance.
+
+For a list of the maintainers, see the [MAINTAINERS.md](MAINTAINERS.md) page.
+
+## Legal
+
+Each source file must include a license header for the Apache
+Software License 2.0.
+e.g.
+
+```
+/**
+ * Copyright <date>-<date> <holder>
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+```
+
+We have tried to make it as easy as possible to make contributions. This
+applies to how we handle the legal aspects of contribution. We use the
+same approach - the [Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1 (DCO)](https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/blob/master/docs/source/DCO1.1.txt) - that the Linux® Kernel [community](https://elinux.org/Developer_Certificate_Of_Origin)
+uses to manage code contributions.
+
+The rules are pretty simple: if you
+can certify the below (from [developercertificate.org](http://developercertificate.org/)):
+```
+Developer Certificate of Origin
+Version 1.1
+
+Copyright (C) 2004, 2006 The Linux Foundation and its contributors.
+660 York Street, Suite 102,
+San Francisco, CA 94110 USA
+
+Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
+license document, but changing it is not allowed.
+
+
+Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1
+
+By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:
+
+(a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
+    have the right to submit it under the open source license
+    indicated in the file; or
+
+(b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
+    of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
+    license and I have the right under that license to submit that
+    work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
+    by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
+    permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
+    in the file; or
+
+(c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
+    person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
+    it.
+
+(d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
+    are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
+    personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
+    maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
+    this project or the open source license(s) involved.
+```
+
+then you just add a line to end of the git commit message:
+
+```
+Signed-off-by: John Doe <john.doe@example.com>
+```
+
+using your real name. Sorry, no pseudonyms or anonymous contributions.
+
+Many Git UI tools have support for adding the `Signed-off-by` line to the end of your commit
+message. This line can be automatically added by the `git commit` command by using the `-s` option.

MAINTAINERS.md

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+# MAINTAINERS
+
+Andrew Schofield - andrew_schofield@uk.ibm.com
+Kate Stanley - katheris@uk.ibm.com

README.md

@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ A commercially supported version of this connector is available for customers wi
 
 
 ## Issues and contributions
-For issues relating specifically to this connector, please use the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/ibm-messaging/kafka-connect-mq-sink/issues). If you do submit a Pull Request related to this connector, please indicate in the Pull Request that you accept and agree to be bound by the terms of the [IBM Contributor License Agreement](CLA.md).
+For issues relating specifically to this connector, please use the [GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/ibm-messaging/kafka-connect-mq-sink/issues). If you do want to submit a Pull Request related to this connector, please read the [contributing guide](CONTRIBUTING.md) first to understand how to sign your commits.
 
 
 ## License