This paper explores the issue of quality in interpreting from two main perspectives-the profession and academic research.Following a review and illustration of conference interpreters’original aspiration to equate quality with professional status,I will examine the contribution of academic research to the issue of quality,with particular emphasis on survey research into interpreters’quality criteria and end-users’expectations.It will be shown that quality can and must be approached from multiple perspectives and with reference to a complex set of criteria relating to both the service aspects and the product features of an interpreter’s performance.Against the background of this comprehensive view of quality,I will take the notion of quality standards in its specific technical sense and discuss recent efforts at drafting national standards for interpreting services,including the ASTM Standard Guide. the draft Chinese standard,and Austrian Standards 1202 and 1203.I will argue that standard-setting for protessional interpreting services must be informed by insights from theoretical and empirical research if standards of practice are to reflect the full complexity and variety of professional reality. This paper explores the issue of quality in interpreting from two main perspectives-the profession and academic research.Following a review and illustration of conference interpreters’original aspiration to equate quality with professional status, I will examine the contribution of academic research to the issue of quality, with particular emphasis on survey research into interpreters’quality criteria and end-users’expectations.It will be shown that quality can and must be approached from multiple perspectives and with reference to a complex set of criteria concerning to the service aspects and the product features of an interpreter’s performance. Against the background of this comprehensive view of quality, I will take the notion of quality standards in its specific technical sense and discuss recent efforts at drafting national standards for interpreting services, including the ASTM Standard Guide. draft Chinese standard, and Austrian Standards 1202 and 1203.I will argue that standa rd-setting for protessional interpreting services must be informed by insights from theoretical and empirical research if standards of practice are to reflect the full complexity and variety of professional reality.