Researchers of project management over the last 20 years have published multiple significant
reviews that have served to map the landscape of project management, revealing its
complexity and deepening our understanding. Contributing to this understanding is an
ongoing challenge, and one dependent on the timely identification of topics that reveal truths
and propel practice. This paper contributes to this understanding through a systematic review
of more than 1100 journal articles published in the last 5 years on the theme of the ‘human
factors’ of project management that reveals their multiplicity, distribution and focus. The
article will conclude with directions for future research.