In a lecture delivered at the University of Vienna in October 1994, Katharina Reiss stated that, in her view, it was not since very long that that one could really speak of Interpreting Studies as a branch of academic research in its own right. This observation, coming from someone who not actually involved in interpreting research, provides a challenge to those who are, prompting questions about the history and status of Interpreting Studies (IS) as a field of academic endeavour and, in particular, about the state of the art apparently achieved. This paper attempts to respond to Reiss’s challenge by presenting bibliographic data on the output of writings and research since the early 1950s and analyzing them for indicators of change and trends. To present an opinion is not the goal of this paper, but to present data useful for further reflections and conclusions about the future development of IS.