The list of reviewed articles for inclusion criteria.

The title of the publication was the focus of the main literature search phrases, which produced a first set of 3 547 publications (Supplementary table). The papers were subjected to additional screening to identify original research containing quantitative and qualitative assessment of the following variables: (i) trends of entomopathogenic nematodes; (ii) abiotic and biotic factors influencing the effectiveness of entomopathogenic nematodes; (iii) requirements for commercializing entomopathogenic nematodes and (iv) challenges with commercializing, exporting and importing entomopathogenic nematodes. In addition, studies including one or more EPNs with a non-inoculated control were prioritized for inclusion in the review. Given that the experimental research publications cited were cross-referenced and evaluated for inclusion eligibility, reviews and book chapters were also included for the analysis. The collected articles were vetted according to a subsequent selection criterion: (i) studies that isolated and identified EPNs species; (ii) studies that identified EPNs when studied separately or in conjunction with pests and/or crops; (iii) studies that measured or estimated one or more pest populations and (iv) studies that included fieldwork, greenhouse or laboratory research. From the carefully chosen publications, both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained about the experiment’s location, EPNs species, symbiotic bacteria, crop cultivars, experimental conditions, variables investigated, levels of experimental factors and inoculation procedures used. After duplicate removal, titles and abstracts were screened for relevance. Full texts were assessed against inclusion criteria, focusing on studies describing the mechanisms, effectiveness, or application of fungi in pest and disease control. In total, 131 articles were screened for eligibility and included in the study. After further screening eliminated studies that focused on screening weeds and duplicates, the literature was narrowed down to 97 peer-reviewed papers. Though there was no strict publication date exclusion to trace back the initial EPN species identification and major research breakthroughs, the included articles were published between 1966 and 2025. With regards to non-English papers, efforts were made to get translated versions, but only the abstracts of papers of interest had translations. These papers were then excluded as the abstracts did not include either nematode species or nematode identification procedure.