Factors Influencing Trustworthiness of Qualitative Research: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Qualitative research is vital for understanding meanings, experiences, and complex social processes across disciplines, yet ensuring the rigor of qualitative findings remains a persistent challenge due to their interpretive nature. In response to the limitations of positivist criteria, trustworthiness has emerged as the primary framework for evaluating qualitative quality, although existing scholarship remains conceptually fragmented across criteria-based, process-oriented, and reporting-focused approaches. This study presents a PRISMA 2020 guided systematic literature review of 48 foundational and contemporary studies published between 1985 and 2024 to synthesize global evidence on factors influencing trustworthiness in qualitative research. The review examines conceptual foundations and identifies key philosophical, methodological, research-related, reporting, and ethical-contextual factors, integrating classical and contemporary perspectives into a coherent analytical framework. Findings demonstrate that trustworthiness is embedded throughout the qualitative research lifecycle, requiring epistemological alignment, methodological rigor, reflexivity, transparent reporting, and contextual sensitivity rather than reliance on isolated techniques or checklists. By consolidating diverse methodological debates, the review contributes an integrative framework that enhances conceptual clarity and provides practical guidance to strengthen the rigor, credibility, and applicability of qualitative research across disciplines and contexts