Unpacking idea evaluation process: Key insights and future directions

Identifying high-quality novel ideas remains a critical challenge, rooted in the inherent complexity of idea evaluation, which requires balancing creativity with practicality, mitigating cognitive biases and navigating uncertainty about future success. Despite the proliferation of studies spanning innovation management, decision science, and cognitive psychology, the literature remains fragmented, leaving a critical gap: a theoretical framework to guide researchers and practitioners in systematically applying evaluation knowledge. Addressing this gap, we conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) synthesizing 115 peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2025. Through inductive thematic analysis, we organize extant knowledge into four interconnected super-themes: evaluation methodologies, process design, factors influencing evaluation, and accuracy. Building on these insights, we introduce a novel theoretical framework that conceptualizes idea evaluation as an adaptive, multi-stage process shaped by contextual factors, including cognitive biases, cultural influences, and evaluator characteristics. Our review highlights persistent research gaps: limited empirical comparisons of evaluation methods, underexplored integration of artificial intelligence in evaluation workflows, and overlooked cultural and psychological influences on decision quality. This study delivers a holistic synthesis of current knowledge, identifies unresolved challenges, offers actionable recommendations, and outlines a clear roadmap for advancing theory and practice in idea evaluation.