In comparison to traditional industrial uses and applications of rubber compounds, the modern industrial demands have resulted in the development of new rubber compounds with improved heat, chemical, wear and impact resistances. In these applications, the adhesion strength of rubbers to different substrates is very important. In order to achieve maximum rubber adhesion to metals, plastics and fibers, usually a decrease in interfacial tension, and interaction and chemical bonding between rubber chains and substrate molecules are required. In recent years, for increasing the effective specific surface, particles such as silica and nanoclay have been incorporated in the rubber compounds. In this paper, we have focused on important parameters promoting rubber adhesion such as reactivity, compatibility, crosslinking and surface treatments. Also, adhesion theories and mechanisms related to rubber adhesion to different substrates are briefly reviewed. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012