The subject of the article is a little- studied issue — an academic discussion on the thesis of Archpriest Mikhail Ivanovich Orlov, Professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (SPbDA), for the degree of Doctor of Theology. His study was dedicated to the Greek and Slavic texts of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Professor Mikhail Orlov made an attempt to publish the text of this liturgy, taking into account all the varieties in manuscripts and printed texts of this liturgy. This work was discussed in St. Petersburg Theological Academy during the public defense procedure by reviewers — Professors Nikolay V. Pokrovsky and Ivan A. Karabinov. They made their critical comments on the substance of the submitted work. The publication of the dissertation was also responded to by the lecturer of the Kievan Theological Academy Vassiliy D. Prilutsky. A few years later the dissertation was nominated for the Akhmatov’s prize, which became the reason for hot discussion in the academical journals between Professor Alexey A. Dmitrievsky and the author of the work. The discussion on the results of the publication, which affected members of the teaching corporation not only of St. Petersburg Theological Academy, but also of the other Theological Academies, allows us to examine the status of historical and liturgical researches in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Moreover, this discussion helps to reconstruct trends in the development of this branch of historical science. The paper describes the standards of liturgical researches in Theological Academies in the early twentieth century.