AbstractWe review the present status of experiments and calculations for circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) of simple organic molecules and of stimuli‐responsive organic molecules. Together with the historical report of the main instrumental approaches, a few crucial points about experiments are tackled, with the aim of defining measurement protocols, in view of the wide availability of commercial apparatuses in the near future. The calculations aimed at interpreting the CPL spectra, mostly based on time‐dependent Density Functional Theory (TD‐DFT) calculations, which started around 2010, are reviewed, limiting the discussion to small to mid‐sized molecules. Some applications of CPL spectra of organic molecules‐based systems are presented, with a focus especially on two fields: material science and biology. Chirality 28:696–707, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.