Through systematically scrutinizing and critically reviewing relevant publications, this paper first articulates the key issues and limitations existing in the current studies on the core concepts and constituents of inter-organizational trust, and antecedents and contextual conditions of forming inter-organizational trust. Second, based on these unsettled issues and divergences, studies on the connotation and components of trust in inter-organizational relationships, and antecedent processes and contextual factors and its contingency effects of inter-organizational trust to form are in depth analyzed and summarized. Finally, this paper presents an integrative framework for research on formation mechanism of inter-organizational trust, and conducts outlooks for development directions of future research on the constituents, assumptions, antecedents, dynamic evolution and Chinese context of inter-organizational trust.