Sustainable procurement: a critical analysis of the research trend in supply chain management journals

Since the dawn of new millennium, sustainable procurement (SP) has captivated the attention of scholars worldwide. In this context, this paper provides a critical analysis of SP research trend in supply chain management (SCM) journals. The analysis has been carried out using existing literature of SP research contributed by the authors and institutions from assorted countries. Specifically, the research tendency of SP in SCM is identified through a systematic analysis of sustainable procurement research articles published in ten selected SCM journals from 1990 to 2016. The analysis revealed that SP research has an increasing trend in recent times, indicating its widely growing significance. The research topics covered in this paper to focus on the sustainability issues of procurement practices are sustainability issues on the network of supply chain, foundation, SP process, and enablers as well as the determinant of SP. This comprehensive study provides practical insights to researchers and industrialists on the nature and scope of SP in SCM.