This paper reflects the contents of the Research Policy Round Table held during the International Conference on Interpreting in Turku, 1994. One of underlying themes of this discussion concerned the content of research. Another recurring question was how to enhance cooperation and coordination within the community of people interested in interpreting research (IR). This paper is not the moderator’s synopsis of the panel discussion, but consists of different statements by the different panellists. The contributions are: 1. The status of IR in the Czech context by Cenkova; 2. IR and research policy in Japan by Kondo; 3. A cognitive psychologist’s view on IR by Lambert ; 4. Improving the status of IR as a multidisciplinary field of study by Gile; 5. Mapping IR as a discipline by Pöchacker. From these statements Tommola concludes that both interpreting studies and the quality and scope of IR should be raised to a higher academic status.