If we assume that translation serves a communicative purpose, some degree of coordination between the participants in the process—sender and receiver, ego and alter—will be necessary. The concept of norms has been deployed in the study of translation in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the factors governing the communicative behavior of translators and the interaction between translators and their audiences. There has been a good deal of theoretical reflection on the role of norms in the context of translation and translation studies (Toury, 1980, 1995; Frank & Schultze, 1988; Hermans, 1991, 1996, 1999; Nord, 1991: Chesterman, 1993, 1997; Schäffner, 1997) and the issue has gained renewed attention with the recent interest in the sociology of translation (Wolf & Fukari, 2007; Pym, Shlesinger, & Simeoni, 2008). In what follows the author will first set out the concept of norms in general terms before explaining how it has been used in the study of translation. He will then consider some of the applications and implications of the norms concept in translation studies.