  Due to the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of global supply
chain networks (SCNs), a recent strand of research has applied network science
methods to model SCN growth and subsequently analyse various topological
features, such as robustness. This paper provides: (1) a comprehensive review
of the methodologies adopted in literature for modelling the topology and
robustness of SCNs; (2) a summary of topological features of the real world
SCNs, as reported in various data driven studies; and (3) a discussion on the
limitations of existing network growth models to realistically represent the
observed topological characteristics of SCNs. Finally, a novel perspective is
proposed to mimic the SCN topologies reported in empirical studies, through
fitness based generative network models.
