Over the last two decades, there has been a considerable increase in experimental information about the rates of electron transfer processes, particularly in solution in ionizing solvents. The main features (enthalpies, free energies and entropies of activation) of a large class of these reactions have been broadly understood for about the same length of time. It is interesting to note that the results of very early calculations of outer-sphere reaction rates and their tempera ture dependence frequently agree with recent more detailed estimates. In order to assess the appli cability of different approaches, and thus to discriminate between them, it is desirable to have as much detailed information as possible about the relevant basic parameters. These include, for example, electron coupling or overlap energies, electron-phonon coupling strengths, vibrational frequencies, and spin coupling data. A brief survey is given of the types of experiment which may provide this information. With such data, discussions on matters such as the applicability of Golden Rule perturbation approaches, electronic adiabaticity, the role of nuclear tunnelling, etc., can be put on firmer ground, and some of the outstanding theoretical issues awaiting reso lution are outlined.The theory of homogeneous electron transfer processes, as well as of the closely-related electron exchanges with metallic electrodes, has been the subject of considerable study.The proposal by Hush and by Marcus that these processes are, for simple systems, either usually electronically adiabatic or 0097-6156/82/0198-0301$09.00/0