Saturation is a critical yet vaguely defined concept in qualitative research, referring to the point where new data cease to yield additional insights about the studied phenomenon. We reviewed 429 influential sources addressing saturation and documented a lack of clarity and inconsistencies in how saturation is defined, assessed, and reported. Its unclear definition and inconsistent assessment result in excessive data collection or premature data gathering cessation. Significantly, a vague definition, assessment, and reporting of saturation affects a study's trustworthiness and, consequently, has detrimental implications for theory development and testing. To address these challenges, we offer a decision-making process to guide, but not dictate, how to define, assess, and report evidence that saturation has been reached. Our recommendations simultaneously accommodate different theoretical and design approaches and enhance transparency and trustworthiness in qualitative studies. We discuss how the proposed methodological improvements have important implications for advancing management theory development and testing.
