Skip to Main Content
site header image

APA Style (7th ed.)

Business Sources

 

Basic structure for most business databases: 

 

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of page in italics (Number if available) [Descriptive text if needed]. Database name. https://www.databasehomepage.com

 

Many business sources contain tables, charts, data sets, and other non-standard types of information. General guidelines:

  • If no author, use a corporate author (e.g. company, association, or group responsible for the content).
  • If no publication date, use the abbreviation (n.d.) -- both in your References and your in-text citation -- for "no date."
  • Retrieval dates are only needed in two circumstances: if the content is unarchived AND is designed to change (e.g. financial data updated quarterly or yearly).
  • If the information is from a free website (such as a .gov website, i.e. not a subscription database) and the URL appears stable, include that.
  • If it is from a subscription database, it is probably not a stable URL, so (usually) include the database name and the homepage of the database itself. The exception is if the content is easily accessible from multiple sources -- e.g., press releases, stock quotes, and the like -- which needs no database retrieval information at all. 

Because the APA style manual does not provide examples for every single type of resource, these examples have been adapted for common business resources. If you are unsure of how to cite a source, ask your business librarian

Jump to more specific examples by using the table below: 

Ad Age DataCenter Global Road Warrior Reference Solutions Value Line
Business Source Complete SWOT Analysis Hoover's Company Profiles Simmons Insights Website: Data Set
Census Data IBISWorld SRDS Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS)
Data-Planet Nexis Uni Statista Winmo

 


Ad Age / Ad Age Datacenter

Articles

Slefo comma G period P period parenthesis 2020 comma May 21 parenthesis period Adobe study suggests consumers have grown tired of “we’re with you” ads period Ad Age period

Datacenter content

Ad Age Leading National Advertisers period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Most-advertised U.S period brands square bracket Chart square bracket period Retrieved May 28 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://adage.com/datacenter/” </a>

               


Business Source Complete - SWOT Analysis

Marketline is the author of most of the SWOTs in our subscription. For SWOTs that may come from other databases, most often you are looking for a corporate/organization author.

MarketLine period parenthesis 2017 comma February 24 parenthesis period Burberry Group PLC SWOT analysis period Business Source Complete period <a href= “https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/business-source-complete” </a>

 


Census Data

Data tables

U period S period Census Bureau period parenthesis 2017 parenthesis period Construction: Summary statistics for the US comma states comma and selected geographies parenthesis Table EC1723BASIC parenthesis square bracket Data set square bracket period U period S period Department of Commerce period <a href= “https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?tid=ECNBASIC2017.EC1723BASIC&t=Employment%3ANew%20Housing%20%28Construction%20and%20Sales%29&vintage=2017&hidePreview=false” </a>

Census Business Builder

U period S period Census Bureau period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Census business builder colon  Small business edition - 3.0.1 square bracket Map showing restaurants in the Dane County comma WI area and surrounding counties square bracket period U.S period Department of Commerce period Retrieved June 18 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://cbb.census.gov/sbe/# ” </a>

Quick Facts tables 

U period S period  Census Bureau period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis   period QuickFacts colon Fort Atkinson city comma Wisconsin semicolon Whitewater city comma Wisconsin  [Data set] period U period S period Department of Commerce period Retrieved June 18 comma 2020 comma from <a href= https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/fortatkinsoncitywisconsin,whitewatercitywisconsin,US/PST045219” </a>

 


Data Planet

Energy Information Administration period parenthesis 2020 comma May 17 parenthesis period Retail gasoline prices colon  Gasoline prices - all grades comma 08/20/1990 - 05/11/2020 square bracket Data set square bracket period Department of Energy semicolon Data Planet Statistical Datasets period <a href= “https://doi.org/10.6068/DP1722EF40B2064” </a>

 


Global Road Warrior

Report with author

Some Global Road Warrior report pages have a Writer listed at the bottom of the page. If none listed, use Global Road Warrior as an Author, and no need to repeat it in the Source position.

Williamson comma J period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Brazil colon  Business culture – Making decisions period Global Road Warrior period <a href= “https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/” </a>

However, some subsections may be reprints from other sources -- e.g.,  the Human Rights Reports section is reprinted from the U.S. Department of State report:

Reprinted from elsewhere

U period S period Department of State comma & World Trade Press period parenthesis 2016 parenthesis period Mexico colon  Human rights report period Global Road Warrior period <a href= “https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/” </a>

 


Hoovers Company Profiles

D&B Hoover’s period parenthesis 2020 comma March 20 parenthesis period Premier Pacific Vineyards comma Inc period profile period <a href= “http://www.hoovers.com/ ” </a>

 


IBIS World

Report with author

Diment comma D period parenthesis 2019 comma December parenthesis period Corporate wellness services parenthesis OD4621 parenthesis square bracket U.S period specialized industry report square bracket period IBISWorld period <a href= “https://www.ibisworld.com/” </a>

No author

IBISWorld period parenthesis 2020 comma June parenthesis period Car body shops in the US parenthesis 81112 parenthesis square bracket U period S period risk ratings report square bracket period <a href= “https://www.ibisworld.com/ ” </a>

 


Nexis Uni

screenshots showing the "from  ____" information in a Nexis Uni company profileThe information on a Nexis Uni company profile (dossier) comes from a variety of sources. Many sections, such as the SEC filings, Company Reports, Company Activities, News, & Legal, are all reprinted from other news or governmental sources, and should be cited showing the original author. In general, look at the bottom of pages for Copyright info or “from______” -- see some examples at right. Think logically about who would have created this info (e.g., SEC filings come from the company; company reports are generally from third parties; news is reprinted from typical newspapers or magazines) to decide who should be the author in your citation. Here are some possible examples:  

Entire company profile

LexisNexis period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Ford Motor Company square bracket Company profile square bracket period Retrieved May 28 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://www.lexisnexis.com/” </a>

10-K or other SEC filings 

All SEC filings are publicly available on the web. So, no matter where you accessed it from, there's really no need to include database information, though you can include a freely-accessible web link to make it easier for your reader to retrieve it if you wish. 

Ruby Tuesday period parenthesis 2016 comma August 15 parenthesis period Form 10-K period

List of companies

LexisNexis period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  square bracket List of automobile companies in Germany comma over $200 M in sales square bracket period Retrieved June 22 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://www.lexisnexis.com” </a>

 


Reference Solutions (formerly Reference USA)

Company profile

Include retrieval dates since profiles are regularly updated. Look in the Business Demographics section of a company profile for the Last Updated On: date.

If the company's name is sufficiently unique to identify that company (i.e., there is only one of that company in that city/state), then that is all you need for the Title. If there are multiple companies with that name and that location, then include the exact address in parentheses as a unique identifier, as below.

Data Axle period parenthesis 2020 comma September parenthesis period Jackson Hewitt Tax Svc-Walmart parenthesis 3101 A period St comma Anchorage comma AK parenthesis square bracket Company profile square bracket period Reference Solutions period Retrieved January 6 comma 2021 comma from <a href= “https://www.referenceusa.com” </a>

List of companies or people

For creating a list of companies or people with certain criteria, the Excel or PDF format list has no real title. So create a description, in [square brackets], of what criteria you applied to get your list, so that someone else could retrieve the same (or similar) data. Include retrieval date because the list would probably be different at a later date. 

Data Axle period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period square bracket List of companies in Walworth county comma Wisconsin with 5 or more employees square bracket period Reference Solutions period Retrieved January 6 comma 2021 comma from <a href= “https://www.referenceusa.com” </a>

 


Simmons Insights

The Title is the dataset used, which also provides you with a Date. However, that doesn't tell your reader what exact data you were using. So create a description after the title, in [square brackets], of what criteria you applied to get your list, so that someone else could retrieve the same (or similar) data. 

Cross tab data

 MRI-Simmons period parenthesis 2017 parenthesis period Spring 2017 NHCS adult study 6 month square bracket Cell phones / smartphones brands owned by consumer demographics - age comma gender comma household income square bracket square bracket Data set square bracket period <a href= “https://simmonsinsights.com/” </a>

Quick report profile

 MRI-Simmons period parenthesis 2018 parenthesis period Spring 2018 NHCS adult study 6 month square bracket Any agree colon I consider my diet to be very healthy square bracket square bracket Quick report colon Demographic profile square bracket period <a href= “https://simmonsinsights.com/” </a>

 


SRDS Media Solutions

For the profiles of any type of Publication, Radio, TV/Cable, Out-of-home, or Hispanic media with a profile in SRDS, include retrieval date as these are updated regularly.

SRDS Media Solutions period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Beloit Daily News square bracket Publication profile square bracket period Retrieved May 22 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://next.srds.com/” </a>

DMA Profiles & Maps

These PDFs should all have dates.

SRDS Media Solutions period parenthesis 2018 parenthesis period Atlanta comma GA square bracket DMA profile square bracket period <a href= “https://next.srds.com/” </a>

SQAD ratings

SQAD period parenthesis 2020 parenthesis period Augusta comma GA square bracket SQAD TV report square bracket period SRDS Media Solutions period Retrieved May 22 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://next.srds.com/” </a>

 


undefined

Statista

Look in the “Source” box to the right of Statista's charts for most of the citation information. Sometimes there are multiple sources for one chart; if so, treat it just like you would a normal multiple-author situation on an article. For date, check the Release Info or Source Link boxes (see right); but if not listed, use (n.d.) for No Date.

 Daniel Research Group period parenthesis 2019 comma September parenthesis period Unit shipments of mobile personal computers parenthesis PCs parenthesis and laptops in the United States comma from 2013 to 2023 parenthesis in millions parenthesis square bracket Chart square bracket period Statista period  <a href= “https://www.statista.com/” </a>

 

No named author

Statista period parenthesis 2020 comma May parenthesis period Laptops & tablets square bracket Consumer market outlook square bracket period <a href= “https://www.statista.com/” </a>

 

Infographics

Armstrong comma M period parenthesis 2020 comma June 4 parenthesis period UK government approval on the slide square bracket Infographic square bracket period Statista period <a href= “https://www.statista.com/” </a>

 

 


Value Line 

image showing the location of the PDF reports link in Value lineValue Line content (e.g. stock prices, some ratings) is updated almost daily, but if they have a PDF of your company, then it is archived so no need to include the retrieval date here. Look for the PDFs if available for your company in the top right or bottom left corner of the HTML webpage.

If there is no PDF, then it is unarchived, so use (n.d.) and include a retrieval date. 

Value Line period parenthesis 2020 comma May 22 parenthesis period Delta Air Lines period Value Line Investment Survey period <a href= “https://jump.valueline.com/” </a>

 


Website: Data Set

Named author

Suro comma R period parenthesis 2004 comma April 19 parenthesis period Changing channels and crisscrossing cultures colon  A survey of Latinos on the news media square bracket Data file and code book square bracket period Pew Hispanic Center period <a href= “https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2004/04/19/changing-channels-and-crisscrossing-cultures/” </a>

Corporate author

Bureau of Economic Analysis period parenthesis 2020 comma May 28 parenthesis period Price indexes for personal consumption expenditures by major type of product and by major function period parenthesis Table 2.3.4U parenthesis square bracket Data set square bracket period United States Department of Commerce period <a href= “https://apps.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=19&step=3&isuri=1&nipa_table_list=2013&categories=underlying” </a>


Wharton Research Data Services -- Compustat, CRSP, etc. 

The Title is the dataset used, which also provides you with a Date. However, that doesn't tell your reader what exact data you were using. So create a description after the title, in [square brackets], of what criteria you applied to get your list, so that someone else could retrieve the same (or similar) data. 

Standard & Poor’s period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period Compustat daily updates - fundamentals annual square bracket Microsoft Corporation colon  Income statement items - January 2015 to January 2020 square bracket square bracket Data set square bracket period Capital IQ period Retrieved June 3 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://wrds-web.wharton.upenn.edu/” </a>

 

The Center for Research in Security Prices period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period CRSP daily stock square bracket Tesla Motors stock prices from 2007 to 2020 square bracket square bracket Data set square bracket period Retrieved June 3 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://wrds-web.wharton.upenn.edu/” </a>

 


Winmo  

List Partners period parenthesis n period d period parenthesis  period The Wendy’s Company period Winmo period Retrieved May 21 comma 2020 comma from <a href= “https://www.winmo.com/” </a>

 

 


More questions? Check out the authoritative source: APA style blog