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As the world continues to embrace the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), member countries are becoming more proactive in this pursuit, leading the way to solve the most complex problems of our time. In response to acceptance of the SDGs by member nations, researchers began to map or check the scope of important themes contained in the SDGs. This research led to a better understanding of the interactions between the three pillars of sustainability: economy, society, and environment, and their effects on mapping SDG themes. After 2015, the number of research studies performing the mapping, or scoping, of the world concepts to the SDGs increased. This article offers a systematic review that synthesizes the information gleaned from this research. This review showed that the mapped themes are multidisciplinary, but their impacts, influence, role, responsibilities, synergies, and trade-offs are intrinsic to the SDGs. Some of the themes mapped to the SDGs in this review act as catalysts to foster the achievement of SDGs, while some of the issues act as roadblocks that can cripple the achievement of SDGs. Looking at an issue through the lens of SDGs will enable us to understand the balance needed between profit, people, and the planet. The major takeaway from this review is that the water-food-energy nexus acts as a potential linkage with SDGs and helps in understanding the interrelated dynamics between human population and the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]