SourceForge review guidelines: how reviews are checked

What are the SourceForge review guidelines?

The SourceForge review guidelines are the rules in SourceForge's review guidelines page, last updated on 7 November 2022, that govern reviews of business software on the site. They require a verified reviewer with real experience of the product and no conflict of interest, and they limit how vendors ask for, reward and respond to reviews.

The page calls Slashdot Media the "Media Company", and it runs one set of quality checks for everyone. In its words, "All Reviews and Reviewers will be treated equally by undergoing the same quality assurance checks." The guidelines add that it does not matter whether the vendor is a paying client or what rating the review gives.

The rules cover two groups. Reviewers must prove who they are and write in their own words, while vendors must collect reviews without steering the content. If you are still deciding whether the site deserves a place in your plan, our guide on what is sourceforge covers its audience and history, so this post sticks to the rules.

Teams that want to get SourceForge reviews through RelikReview get a campaign built on these rules, with verified users who are never paid by RelikReview and choose their own rating. Teams who buy SoftwareSuggest review campaigns or collect HubSpot marketplace reviews get the same rule-first approach on those sites.

Who can write a review under the SourceForge review guidelines

A SourceForge reviewer must be a real adult with first-hand experience of the software. By submitting a review, the reviewer states that they are "at least eighteen (18) years of age", and the guidelines describe reviews as the opinions of people "who provide information after experiencing the Vendor's software".

The conflict of interest rule is strict. The guidelines say "Reviewers must not in any way be affiliated with or have a vested interest in the software being reviewed or the software of its competitor, including being employed by or related to any employee of the software Vendor." In practice, this rules out the vendor's staff, their family members and anyone tied to a competing product.

Authorship rules close the last gaps. "All Reviews must be posted by the person conducting the Review," and reviews cannot be posted on behalf of another person, so a customer success manager cannot type up a customer's feedback and submit it for them.

What the SourceForge review form asks

The SourceForge review form asks for two kinds of information: who the reviewer is and what they think of the product. The guidelines say reviewers "are required to submit their name when they submit a Review", and verification checks the reviewer's name, job title, company name and email address.

The review itself has three written fields: Pros, Cons and Overall. The guidelines require that "each Review text field (Pros, Cons, Overall) must be uniquely written" and that reviews "meet the character minimum in each field with genuine written text." Padding a field with extra spaces or punctuation to reach the minimum is not allowed.

Published reviews show the rest of what the form collects. Each review on a listing carries a title, star ratings for Design, Ease, Features, Pricing and Support, a "Probability You Would Recommend?" score from 1 to 10, and context about the reviewer:

• Used the software for. From less than 6 months to 2+ years.
• Frequency of use. Daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.
• User role. User, administrator or deployment.
• Company size. A band of employee numbers.

SourceForge also offers writing tips: be detailed, be clear, stay objective, be current and be relevant. The guidelines say these tips "are suggestions only" and are not meant to push reviewers toward a positive or negative review.

How SourceForge review moderation verifies reviewers

SourceForge review moderation starts with identity. The guidelines say an identification check is run on every reviewer "to ensure a Reviewer is an actual person", and that reviews must be submitted with a business email address, such as [email protected].

A personal email does not end the review, but it adds steps. In SourceForge's words: "Reviews submitted without a business email address may still be published, but are subject to additional verification steps, including LinkedIn verification, phone verification, video call verification, and other publicly identifiable information or identity documents." The guidelines add that any review may face these checks at SourceForge's discretion, even one sent from a business email.

Reviews that fail the identity check stop there. "Reviews submitted by persons whose identity cannot be verified in accordance with our practices will not be published." Reviews that pass then go through the content rules in the next section.

Moderation continues after publication. Anyone can report a review they think is fake by email, with a reason and a link to the product page, and SourceForge "strives to complete all investigations within a week with the understanding that investigations that are more involved may take longer." Reviews under investigation stay visible until the check is done, and a false report filed only to get a review examined is itself a breach of the guidelines.

Why SourceForge rejects or removes a review

Most rejected reviews fail one of a short list of rules. SourceForge says it may decline to publish or remove any review that breaks the guidelines, and that "the entire Review may not be published" if any part of it fails.

A low rating is never a reason on its own. The guidelines say "Media Company will not remove a Review or not post a Review simply because the Review of the product is negative or unfavorable." SourceForge also does not edit the meaning of a review, although it may fix typos, spelling and punctuation before publishing.

For vendors, a run of rejections usually points to the invitation list. If reviews fail on identity, the list probably included people without a work email or without real use of the product, so it pays to invite people who actually use it and to tell them up front that a business email is expected.

How reviews appear on a SourceForge listing

Each published review sits on the product's listing with its title, the date it was posted, the Pros, Cons and Overall text, the category ratings and the reviewer details described above. Reviewers do not have to show their name. The guidelines say "Anonymous Reviews appear on the Site as posted by a “verified user.”" SourceForge will not reveal an anonymous reviewer's identity to vendors or other reviewers.

Reviews also feed other parts of a listing. SourceForge's badges and awards documentation says the star rating on a vendor's SourceForge badge reflects the rating on its product page, and the Leader and Top Performer awards go to products with enough outstanding user reviews to reach the top fifth and top tenth percentile. SourceForge's Review Widget, which vendors can place on their own website, shows only 4 and 5 star reviews and only the Pros and Overall sections.

Reviewers can update a review later by contacting SourceForge from the email they first used. Vendors can reply to reviews in public, and the guidelines encourage replies to negative reviews, saying "Whether or not a Vendor responds should not be dependent upon the overall rating." Replies should be courteous and add information that helps explain the reviewer's comments.

How SourceForge's gift card program for reviewers works

SourceForge runs its own reward program for reviewers. According to SourceForge's Reviews and Review Generation documentation, the vendor sends customers a special review link, and when a review is published "we will email them a digital gift card (paid for by SourceForge!)." The terms in its sample emails state that gift cards "are worth $20 USD or equivalent".

The program has limits that vendors and reviewers should know:

• Plan. Review generation services are available to SourceForge customers on the Plus plan or above.
• Card supply. The vendor's Reviews tab shows how many cards are left and the value of each, and the guidelines warn that programs "may only have a certain amount of gift cards available."
• Publication first. A reviewer only receives the incentive once the review is accepted and published, and a review sent after the incentive expired earns no card.
• Eligibility. Only residents of the countries listed in the terms can receive a card.
• Managed option. SourceForge can run the outreach itself from a contact list, with a minimum of 100 contacts and a suggested 20 or more contacts for each review wanted.

Rewarded reviews come with a disclosure rule. A reviewer who receives an incentive of any amount must state at the top of the review "This review was provided in return for compensation" along with a description of what they received, and the guidelines say incentivized reviews are marked with an icon. SourceForge notes that "This disclosure is required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guidelines."

SourceForge also gives vendors a reason to care about volume. SourceForge's review generation documentation says that for vendors on a paid marketing plan, "customers reviews can improve your campaigns performance by 35% to over 150%." That figure is SourceForge's own claim about its paid campaigns, so treat it as a guide to how the site weighs reviews.

The SourceForge review policy for vendors

The SourceForge review policy for vendors is short, and the penalties for breaking it are real. The guidelines say "Any Vendor found to be in violation of these Guidelines will be subject to penalties and/or suspension of services," so the rules below apply to every review request a vendor sends.

What vendors may do

SourceForge wants vendors to ask for reviews, within these rules:

• Send review requests. The Vendor Portal lets vendors send users a request for reviews, and the documentation suggests sequence emails, marketing emails or personal outreach from support or sales.
• Explain the checks. "When soliciting Reviews, Vendors should inform users of our QA Process" so the reviews meet the guidelines.
• Use the incentive link. "When offering an incentive for a Review, Vendors must utilize the incentive link in the Vendor Portal" to keep rewarded reviews separate.
• Reply to every rating. Respond in public, courteously and professionally, whether the review is positive or negative.

What vendors may not do

The same guidelines set firm limits:

• No self-reviews. "Vendors are not permitted to post Reviews about their own product or that of a competitor's product."
• No ghost-writing. No user may post a review on behalf of another user.
• No steering. "Vendors are not allowed to overly influence what content to include in any Review."
• No direct contact. "No Vendor is permitted to contact a Reviewer directly regarding a Review."

Writing a fair review request

The sample emails in SourceForge's documentation describe the gift card and link to the review. Before you reuse them, send the same request to every user at fixed points everyone reaches, such as day 30, day 90 or the account anniversary, and drop any line that sends unhappy users to support in place of the review. Neutral wording keeps you well clear of the rule against influencing content.

Rules differ from one directory to the next, so check each site before you copy a request across. Our guide to the softwaresuggest review guidelines covers a similar directory, and our list of software review sites shows where SourceForge fits among the others.

SourceForge review guidelines in short

The SourceForge review guidelines come down to three points. Reviewers must be verified adults with real use of the product and no tie to the vendor, every review passes the same identity and content checks whatever its rating, and vendors may ask for reviews but must never write, steer or chase them.

Vendors who plan their outreach around these rules lose fewer reviews to moderation and keep their listing clear of penalties. If you would like help planning a SourceForge campaign that fits these rules, talk to the RelikReview team about where to start.

FAQs about SourceForge reviews