## 2 Methodology  
This state-of-the-art review employed a systematic approach to identify, analyze, and synthesize the relevant literature. The methodology involved the following steps:  
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* Scope definition: Clearly defined geographical, temporal, and thematic boundaries were established through a preliminary literature review, mapping the current landscape of modular timber construction, and identifying knowledge gaps. Documents published before the period of 1990-2023 were disregarded from the review;
* Source selection: Rigorous selection of information sources included academic databases, specialized journals, conferences, books, chapters, and technical reports, all written in English. The search engines used were Google Scholar and Google Books. These platforms provide a wide range of scholarly literature across disciplines, offering free accessibility and user-friendly interfaces for efficient navigation. Additionally, the inclusion of citation metrics assists in evaluating the impact of works, facilitating the identification of influential papers and authors. The literature search utilized specific keywords such as \"timber\", \"wooden\", \"modular\", \"buildings\", \"construction\", \"structures\", \"systems\", \"prefabrication\", \"EWP\", \"modularity\", \"design\", \"guide\", \"layout\", \"multi-story\", \"module\", \"panel\", \"frame\", \"transport\", \"joining techniques\", \"connections\", \"inter-module\", \"MEP\", \"infrastructures\", \"installation\", \"stability\", \"performance\", \"disassembly\", and \"innovations\". The keywords were consolidated using Boolean operators such as \"and\", indicating that all search terms must be present in the retrieved records, \"or\", indicating that any of the search terms can be present, and \"not\", instructing the database to disregard concepts that might be implicit in the search terms;
* Screening and classification: A screening process based on relevance and quality criteria was applied to the identified documents. Selected works were categorized thematically, facilitating an effective analysis of the diverse approaches and perspectives in the existing literature;
* Analysis and synthesis: A critical analysis of the selected articles identified trends, challenges, innovations, and gaps in current modular timber construction research. The information synthesis aimed to construct a cohesive narrative highlighting the present state of knowledge in the field, incorporating various perspectives and relevant findings;
* Article structuring: The article structure followed a logical sequence reflecting historical evolution, recent developments, and future projections for modular timber construction. Each section was carefully organized to provide a comprehensive and comprehensible overview of the state of the art, incorporating diverse insights and relevant results.  
Figure 1 illustrates a flowchart identifying the main tasks performed in the development of this state-of-the-art review.  
Figure 1: Flowchart describing the main steps of the research.  
This methodology facilitated the compilation of a state-of-the-art article offering a comprehensive and updated perspective on modular timber construction. It presented key contributions from the existing literature and indicated directions for future research.  
The examination of the existing literature resulted in 124 full-text records. Figure 2a displays the distribution patterns of the chosen records after undergoing filtering and the removal of duplicates. Figure 2b showcases the temporal distribution of the selected records.