The presentation deals with methodological issues concerning reception studies. It is largely based on the four-year Ph.D. research programme on the reception of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) in Portugal between 1910 and 1974 carried out by Pedro Ricardo Fonseca at the University of Coimbra, under the supervision of Ana Leonor Pereira and João Rui Pita. The main objective of the cited research was to evaluate the influence of Darwin's biological theory upon Portuguese biologists. Thus, we carried out an extensive analysis of the scientific production of some of Portugal's most prominent 20th century botanists and zoologists. However, to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of Darwin in Portugal during most of the 20th century, other research lines had to be pursued. For example, we analyzed all of the Portuguese translations of Darwin's works and gathered relevant information about the translators and publishers. This effort was complemented by the identification of alternative sources through which Portuguese readers could access Darwin's ideas. In order to better understand how Darwin was (literally) “viewed” in Portugal, we did a historical-iconographic study of Darwin in Portugal. We also started a large-scale bibliometric study of Darwin's works available in Portuguese public libraries. Besides its more quantitative component, this study also informs us of the type of work that was most available (English original editions, Portuguese translations, other foreign translations) and of the year that a certain work became available at a certain library.