Stall inception means the phenomena of rotating stall initiation. The initiation mechanism of rotating stall, the existence of stall precursor, the behavior of stall precursor, stall warning scheme and control scheme are the main interests in stall inception research. Compared to the studies on rotating stall which has long history, the stall inception has been studied for about recent 20 years. After the first discovery of stall precursor in about 20 years ago, many studies were reported on stall inception phenomena. The inception pattern of `mode` and `spike` were found, and some of its characteristics are known. And now the stall inception has become one of the fascinating fields in turbomachinery. The development stall control scheme which apply the reliable stall warning scheme will play a great role in future compressor and aeroengine. This paper reviews the results and analysis methods on stall inception studies.