Internal Sustainability Audit in Public Administration: a Systematic Review and Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Objective: To systematically analyze the scientific literature on internal sustainability management auditing in public administration, identifying audit criteria and factors related to institutionalization.   Theoretical Framework: The study is grounded in the literature on internal auditing, organizational sustainability, governance, risk management, and institutionalization, considering auditing as a mechanism for assessing and strengthening the management of environmental and social sustainability.   Method: A systematic literature review was conducted based on Tranfield et al. (2003) and Denyer and Tranfield (2006), using the Scopus database and bibliometric and thematic analysis of 40 articles published between 2004 and 2025, using Microsoft Excel, RStudio, Bibliometrix, and Biblioshiny.   Results and Discussion: The results show that this is a recent and rapidly expanding field, with a predominance of the Environmental and Governance dimensions and less exploration of the Social dimension. A high degree of heterogeneity was identified in audit criteria, along with a predominance of assessments focused on sustainability practices, performance, and disclosure. Institutionalization is fostered by social and institutional pressures, legal frameworks, organizational capabilities, and risk-based approaches, while resource constraints, competencies, auditor independence, and data availability and quality constitute barriers.   Research Implications: The findings contribute to guiding the structuring of internal sustainability audits in public organizations.   Originality/Value: An integrated framework is proposed that articulates institutional context, capabilities, facilitators, barriers, audit architecture, assessment focuses, and value creation, providing a conceptual basis for the development of audit models applicable to the public sector.