Infrared rheometry showed that the mesogenic groups of two smectic side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers were aligned by shear until a steady-state value was achieved after approximately 10 a. The shear experiments were carried out at temperatures 10-50 degrees C below the isotropisation temperature. The alignment of the mesogenic groups was always perpendicular to the shear flow direction. The degree of orientation increased with increasing shear rate and the highest reported value for the Hermans orientation function was -0.35 (-0.5 corresponds to perfect perpendicular orientation; it was assumed that the mesogen-group-orientation was unixaial). The turbidity of the sheared smectic samples indicates the presence of small domains in spite of their high level of orientation. A gradual loss of mesogen group orientation occurred after cessation of shear, and full recovery of the original isotropic state was in no case achieved within 60 000 s.