  The contribution of the different terms of the running-coupling
Balistky-Kovchegov (rcBK) equation to the description of inclusive HERA data is
discussed. Within this framework an alternative definition of the saturation
scale is presented. The definition is based on the ratio of the term
corresponding to the recombination of two dipoles to the term corresponding to
a dipole splitting. A similar ratio is used to study the contribution of the
recombination term to the evolution of inclusive HERA data with rapidity. It is
found that, although the data are well described, the behaviour of the
different terms of the rcBK equation for HERA kinematics is not what it is
naively expected from saturation arguments.
