Deformation twins have been oberved in nanocrystalline (NC) Al synthsized by cryogenic ball-milling and in NC Cu processed by high-pressure torsion under room temperature and at a very low strain rate. They were found formed by partial dislocations emitted from grain boundaries. This paper first reviews experimental evidences on deformation twinning and partial dislocation emissions from grain boundaries, and then discusses recent analytical models on the nucleation and growth of deformation twins. These models are compared with experimental results to establish their validity and limitations.