SourceForge Review Guide

Who uses SourceForge

Software vendors listed in the SourceForge Business Software Directory, and the business users who review their products. Reviewers must be at least 18, unaffiliated with the product, and pass an identity check; open-source projects hosted on SourceForge have a separate project review section.

Claim your profile

1. Open the product page and follow the claim link (sourceforge.net/software/product/<name>/claim), or use Add a Product for a product that is not listed.
2. The claim form asks for your name, company, company size, job title, email address, phone and LinkedIn URL, and whether you are interested in paid advertising.
3. A SourceForge business account (registration or login) is part of the process; the claim page does not state a fee or how long verification takes.
4. Paid plans upgrade the listing, for example with no competitor ads, a cover photo, two call-to-action buttons, downloads, videos and photos.
5. Vendor questions go through the Vendor Portal, an account representative or the Slashdot Media contact page.

Official guidelines: sourceforge.net

Replying to reviews

Vendors are encouraged to respond to reviews, including negative ones, regardless of the rating. A vendor response appears with the review on the product page.

• Responses should be courteous and professional and add context rather than attack the reviewer.
• Vendors may not contact a reviewer directly about a review and may not influence what a review says.

Official guidelines: sourceforge.net

Review rules

In our own words. The official page is the rule that applies.

• Reviewers must not be affiliated with or have a vested interest in the product, which excludes the vendor's employees and relatives and its competitors; reviews about your own product or a competitor's product are not published.
• Every reviewer goes through an identity check of name, job title, company and email; a business email address is the standard, and reviews without one face extra checks. Reviews from people whose identity cannot be verified are not published.
• Reviews must be original, written in English and about the reviewer's own use of the product. Spam, self-promotion, copied or fabricated text, personal information about others, and fraud or criminal allegations without proof are not allowed.
• Only the reviewer's first name, last name initial and job title are shown publicly.
• Incentivized reviews must state at the top that they were provided in return for compensation and are marked with an Incentivized Review icon; vendors offering incentives must use the incentive link in the Vendor Portal, and incentives outside that program are prohibited.
• SourceForge only corrects minor typos and can unpublish or remove reviews that break the guidelines; reviewers can update a review by writing from the email address they used.

Official guidelines: sourceforge.net

Reporting a review

SourceForge's own process, step by step.

1. Report a suspected fake or invalid review by email to software@slashdotmedia.com, with an explanation, a link to the product page and the relevant facts.
2. Reviews are judged on whether they follow the guidelines; whether a review is favorable is not investigated.
3. SourceForge aims to finish an investigation within a week, and the review stays visible while it is under investigation.
4. SourceForge does not get involved in disputes between reviewers and vendors unless required by law, and filing false allegations is itself a violation.

Official guidelines: sourceforge.net

Tips

• Claim the product page so the listing information is accurate.
• Respond to negative reviews with context and a calm tone, and never contact the reviewer about their review.
• If you offer incentives for reviews, use only the Vendor Portal program, which discloses them on the review.
• Ask customers to review with their business email address so verification is quicker.