diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0c9e7e47..b2a406bf 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+const fs = require('fs')
+const fspath = require('path')
 const {format} = require('url');
 const {find, merge} = require('lodash');
 const getStream = require('get-stream');
@@ -18,6 +20,7 @@ const HOSTS_CONFIG = require('./lib/hosts-config.js');
  * @param {String} pluginConfig.config Requierable npm package with a custom conventional-changelog preset
  * @param {Object} pluginConfig.parserOpts Additional `conventional-changelog-parser` options that will overwrite ones loaded by `preset` or `config`.
  * @param {Object} pluginConfig.writerOpts Additional `conventional-changelog-writer` options that will overwrite ones loaded by `preset` or `config`.
+ * @param {String} pluginConfig.header Path to a text file appended to the head of the release notes.
  * @param {Object} context The semantic-release context.
  * @param {Array<Object>} context.commits The commits to analyze.
  * @param {Object} context.lastRelease The last release with `gitHead` corresponding to the commit hash used to make the last release and `gitTag` corresponding to the git tag associated with `gitHead`.
@@ -85,8 +88,36 @@ async function generateNotes(pluginConfig, context) {
   debug('linkReferences: %o', changelogContext.linkReferences);
   debug('issue: %o', changelogContext.issue);
   debug('commit: %o', changelogContext.commit);
+  
+  var res = await getStream(intoStream.object(parsedCommits).pipe(writer(changelogContext, writerOpts)));
+  
+  if('header' in pluginConfig) {
+    var headerOpt = pluginConfig['header'];
 
-  return getStream(intoStream.object(parsedCommits).pipe(writer(changelogContext, writerOpts)));
+    if(headerOpt === fspath.basename(headerOpt)) {
+      res =  headerOpt + '\n' + res;
+    } else {
+      if(fs.existsSync(pluginConfig['header'])) {
+        const header = fs.readFileSync(headerOpt, { encoding: 'utf8' });
+        res = header + '\n' + res;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  if('footer' in pluginConfig) {
+    var footerOpt = pluginConfig['footer'];
+
+    if(footerOpt === fspath.basename(footerOpt)) {
+      res = res + '\n' + footerOpt
+    } else {
+      if(fs.existsSync(pluginConfig['footer'])) {
+        const footer = fs.readFileSync(footerOpt, { encoding: 'utf8' });
+        res = res + '\n' + footer
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  
+  return res;
 }
 
 module.exports = {generateNotes};
diff --git a/test/integration.test.js b/test/integration.test.js
index b11cf71f..9e616cec 100644
--- a/test/integration.test.js
+++ b/test/integration.test.js
@@ -639,3 +639,43 @@ test('ReThrow error from "conventional-changelog"', async (t) => {
     {message: 'Test error'}
   );
 });
+
+test('Accept "header" file path option', async(t) => {
+  const commits = [
+    {hash: '111', message: 'fix(scope1): First fix'},
+    {hash: '222', message: 'feat(scope2): First feature'},
+  ];
+
+  const releaseNotes = await generateNotes({header: './test/testHeader.md'}, {cwd, options: {repositoryUrl}, lastRelease, nextRelease, commits});
+  t.regex(releaseNotes, /### Test Header/);
+});
+
+test('Accept "header" string option', async(t) => {
+  const commits = [
+    {hash: '111', message: 'fix(scope1): First fix'},
+    {hash: '222', message: 'feat(scope2): First feature'},
+  ];
+
+  const releaseNotes = await generateNotes({header: "### Test Header"}, {cwd, options: {repositoryUrl}, lastRelease, nextRelease, commits});
+  t.regex(releaseNotes, /### Test Header/);
+});
+
+test('Accept "footer" file path option', async(t) => {
+  const commits = [
+    {hash: '111', message: 'fix(scope1): First fix'},
+    {hash: '222', message: 'feat(scope2): First feature'},
+  ];
+
+  const releaseNotes = await generateNotes({footer: './test/testHeader.md'}, {cwd, options: {repositoryUrl}, lastRelease, nextRelease, commits})
+  t.regex(releaseNotes, /### Test Header/);
+});
+
+test('Accept "footer" string option', async(t) => {
+  const commits = [
+    {hash: '111', message: 'fix(scope1): First fix'},
+    {hash: '222', message: 'feat(scope2): First feature'},
+  ];
+
+  const releaseNotes = await generateNotes({footer: "### Test Footer"}, {cwd, options: {repositoryUrl}, lastRelease, nextRelease, commits});
+  t.regex(releaseNotes, /### Test Footer/);
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/testHeader.md b/test/testHeader.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2cd757b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/testHeader.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+### Test Header
\ No newline at end of file