## 5 Conclusions  
A proper and holistic understanding of context-specific core concepts and practices underpinning SCM is recognized as essential in order to foster its implementation in the construction industry. However, studies continue to focus on very specific fields of research and fail to present a total solution. This paper responded to this research gap by conducting a systematic literature review. Following a sophisticated protocol, 108 relevant articles from ISI Web of Science were collected. These articles were analyzed statistically regarding the publication year, journal research area, geographical location and keywords co-occurrence. Going beyond the scope of existing studies, the full range of perspectives and contributions incorporated from distinct fields of research were analyzed to capture the documented core concepts and practices underlying SCM in the construction industry. As a result, a set of 19 core elements were revealed and classified into five different SCM subject areas, namely'strategic management', 'logistics','relationships', 'best practices' and 'organizational behavior'.  
This study made significant contributions. It delineated the SCM domain in the construction industry, providing a structured and comprehensive picture of the current state of knowledge. In addition, every revealed core element was discussed in detail, providing some valuable insights about its specific importance and how they are related to the broader SCM field. The review also pointed that the trend goes towards more external collaboration, and highlighted the challenges that need to be addressed. Hence, this study serves as a frame of reference for practitioners and researchers in the field. It has considerable potential to accelerate the understanding and implementation of SCM within the construction industry. In particular, this paper offers some sense of assistance to construction managers in highlighting the core CSCM elements that matter most. While not suggesting a prescriptive step-by-step approach, managers can use the results to identify and prioritize core elements that could be addressed and determine a strategy to enhance the possibilities of the successful implementation of SCM.  
Every study has limitations, and this review is certainly no exception. ISI Web of Science was chosen as the only database. Thus, the data coverage might not be all-inclusive, as the consideration of other research databases (e.g., Scopus) could have led to the inclusion of additional articles. Additionally, the research was restricted to peer reviewed articles published in English, leaving aside other sources (e.g., books, conference publications) that are also part of the SCM body of knowledge and documents published in other languages. Finally, the inclusion and exclusion criteria may have inadvertently excluded some important studies.  
These limitations could serve as fertile areas for further research. Replications of this research may test and validate with empirical data the proposed findings. Other research directions could include exploring cause-effect relationships between revealed core elements and developing tools to measure elements maturity level. These approaches will support organizations to analyze where improvement is needed and infer priorities to develop strategies to foster SCM implementation.  
W.P.S. and L.C.B.D.B.M. have equally contributed to this study. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding. The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding authors. The authors declare no conflict of interest.