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Company and Industry Research: Citing Business Sources

This guide will help you find information on public and private companies.

Overview of Business Citations

This page contains examples of American Psychological Association (APA) citations for some of the most commonly used electronic business resources. The examples here are only models, and you should always check with the most current version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association to be sure your citations are correct. The most recent copy of the APA Manual is available at the Sterne Library Reference Desk.

Remember that all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin.  

Annual Reports

Annual reports may be found online in a number of places including on the company's investor relations web site and in library databases. 

FROM A COMPANY'S WEB SITE

Wal Mart, Inc. (2013).  Annual report to shareholders. Retrieved from http://investors.walmartstores.com

FROM A LIBRARY DATABASE

Wal Mart, Inc. (2013).  Annual report to shareholders. Retrieved from Business Insights: Essentials database.  

SEC Filings

SEC filings are available from a number of online sources. The primary sources for these filings are the SEC EDGAR system and directly from the company's investor relations web site. 

FROM SEC.GOV (EDGAR)

Starbucks Corporation. (2009, November 20). Form 10-K. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov

Ford Motor Company. (2010, May 7). Form 10-Q. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov

Johnson & Johnson. (2010, March 17). Form DEF 14A. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov


FROM A COMPANY'S WEB SITE

Starbucks Corporation. (2009, November 20). Form 10-K. Retrieved from http://investor.starbucks.com

Ford Motor Company. (2010, May 7). Form 10-Q. Retrieved from http://corporate.ford.com/investors.html

Johnson & Johnson. (2010, March 17). Form DEF 14A. Retrieved from http://www.investor.jnj.com

Hoover's Company Records

You may cite the company record generally or cite to a specific portion of the company record.

Hoover’s.  (2014, 1 July). Starbucks Corporation company record.  Retrieved from Hoover's Company Records database.

Value Line Investment Surveys

Value Line investment surveys and industry reports may be cited similarly.  

Value Line. (2010, April 9).  Dell, Inc. investment survey.  Retrieved from Value Line database.

Value Line. (2011, June 20).  Airlines industry survey.  Retrieved from Value Line database.

Articles from Library Databases

You should use the standard APA article citation style when citing articles from the library's databases. 

ONE OR MORE AUTHORS

Beaulieu, R. (2010, May). BBVA's foothold in U.S. sunbelt grows with purchase of Compass. Institutional Investor. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Complete database.

Gulati, R., Nohria, N., & Wohlgezogen, F.  (2010, March). Roaring out of recession. Harvard Business Review, 88(3), 62-69.  Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.  

ANONYMOUS

Crumbs Bake Shop and Global Bay introduce crumbs app for Apple. (2011, March 24).  Wireless News. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Complete database.

Articles from Web Sites

Articles from web sites are cited similarly to articles found in library databases. 

ONE OR MORE AUTHORS

Dash, E., & Schwartz, N. D. (2010, June 21). Banking lobbyists make a run at reform measures. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Bravin, J. (2010, June 21).  Supreme Court upholds antiterror law.  The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com


ANONYMOUS

California Pizza Kitchen cuts 2nd-quarter outlook (2010, June 21). Reuters.  Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.com

Investment Reports (Business Insights: Essentials)

The citations below show how to cite the investment reports found in the Business Insights: Essentials database. You may use a similar citation format for investment reports found elsewhere.   

Apple has a current overall rating of B (positive). (2009, July 13). Price Target Research. Retrieved from Business Insights: Essentials database.

Carriers focus on messaging and social networking devices; reiterate strong buy. (2009, June 30).  C. L. King & Assoc.  Retrieved from Business Insights: Essentials database.

MarketLine Company & Industry Reports

MarketLine reports are found in the Business Source Premier database. The reports include company profiles, industry profiles, and SWOT analyses.

MarketLine. (2014, April 16). Stryker Corporation company profile.  Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.

MarketLine. (2014, April 28). BBVA SWOT analysis. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.

MarketLine. (2014, November). Personal hygiene industry profile: Australia.  Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.

Morningstar Investment Research Center

The Morningstar Investment Research Center includes downloadable company profiles and analyst reports.  

COMPANY PROFILES

Morningstar. (2010, June 21).  Starbucks Corporation snapshot. Retrieved from Morningstar Investment Research Center database.

Morningstar. (2010, June 21).  Starbucks Corporation valuation ratios. Retrieved from Morningstar Investment Research Center database.


ANALYST REPORTS

Hottovy, R. J. (2010, January 21).  Starbucks’ momentum continues in 1Q [Analyst report].  Retrieved from Morningstar Investment Research Center database.

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