diff --git a/samples/README.md b/samples/README.md
index 336326cf6a8..a4a9e0eb312 100644
--- a/samples/README.md
+++ b/samples/README.md
@@ -33,3 +33,30 @@ Useful parameter values:
 ## Components source
 
 All samples use pre-built components. The command to run for each container is built into the pipeline file.
+
+## Sample conventions
+For better readability and functions of sample test, samples are encouraged to adopt the following conventions.
+
+* The sample should be either `*.py` or `*.ipynb`, and its file name is in consistence with its dir name.
+* For `*.py` sample, it's recommended to have a main invoking `kfp.compiler.Compiler().compile()` to compile the 
+pipeline function into pipeline yaml spec.
+* For `*.ipynb` sample, parameters (e.g., experiment name and project name) should be defined in a dedicated cell and 
+tagged as parameter. Detailed guideline is [here](https://github.com/nteract/papermill). Also, custom environment setup
+should be done within the notebook itself by `!pip install`
+
+
+## (Optional) Add sample test
+For those samples that cover critical functions of KFP, possibly it should be picked up by KFP's sample test
+so that it won't be broken by accidental PR merge. Contributors can do that by following these steps.
+
+* Place the sample under the core sample directory `kubeflow/pipelines/samples/core`
+* Make sure it follows the [sample conventions](#sample-conventions).
+* If the test running requires specific values of pipeline parameters, they can be specified in a config yaml file
+placed under `test/sample-test/configs`. See 
+[`tfx_cab_classification.config.yaml`](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/master/test/sample-test/configs/tfx_cab_classification.config.yaml) as an example. The config yaml file will be validated 
+according to `schema.config.yaml`. If no config yaml is provided, pipeline parameters will be substituted by their 
+default values.
+* Finally, add your test name (in consistency with the file name and dir name) in 
+[`test/sample_test.yaml`](https://github.com/kubeflow/pipelines/blob/ecd93a50564652553260f8008c9a2d75ab907971/test/sample_test.yaml#L69)
+* (Optional) Current sample test infra only checks successful runs, without any result/outcome validation. 
+If those are needed, runtime checks should be included in the sample itself.