The majority of the existing literature is based upon the assumption that, by paying attention to success factors, failure will be avoided. In the case of challenged projects, where failure factors are overcome the projects go on to be delivered successfully. Hence, it is worthwhile to explore the key factors that determine failure, since this information may be useful in averting future project failures. This research aims to collate and classify existing research in order to: (1) understand the common failure factors; and (2) categorise identified factors pertaining to country, project stage and failure categories. In so doing, this research work goes beyond the identification of traditional factors since it further classifies them according to project stages, failure types and geographical regions. This research contributes to knowledge by identifying and synthesising existing understanding of the failure of IS/IT projects.