Daniel Gile starts by sketching a history of interpretation research. He distinguishes four periods: the fifties, in which the first steps were undertaken; the experimental psychology period, situated in sixties and early seventies, during which hypotheses were formulated regarding the interpreting process and the influence of various factors; the period from the early seventies to the mid-eighties, when practitioners undertook research that was theoretical and compartmentalized; and finally the ‘Renaissance’, which started with the 1986 interpreter training conference in Trieste, and is characterized by an increasing call for more empirical research and more openness between the researchers. The second part of the paper is devoted to a call for opening up in the practisearchers community itself and to the scientific community at large. In the remainder of the text, Gile explains what type of action is needed to stimulate the present change in interpreting research to a more open direction.