The American Psychological Association (APA) produces a style guide that is commonly used in the social sciences. This guide will assist you in creating a reference list with examples relevant to business resources using the APA Style Guide 7th edition.
While APA provides instructions on citing standard publication types, some business databases and resources do not directly match APA instructions. As a result, the citations and examples in this guide reflect the C.B. 'Bud' Johnston Library's interpretation of APA rules for business resources. The full list of examples is available in the pdf linked below:
Footnotes and endnotes: Footnotes and endnotes are not recommended with APA style.
Corporations as authors: If a person is not listed as the author, the organization, corporation, or agency responsible for the document should be listed as the author.
Retrieval date: Include a retrieval date before the URL only when citing a work that is likely to change. This tells the reader that the version of the work they retrieve may be different from the version you used.
Description of the work: Often business sources will require a description of the work being cited. Place this description in square brackets after the title or instead of the title.
Same author and publisher: When the author and publisher are the same (for example, an annual report written and published by the same company), omit the publisher from the reference to avoid repetition.
Database URLs: Include the database name and URL for most business-specific sources. These are included when the database has either works of limited circulation or proprietary material only available from that database. For databases from the library that require a login, provide the URL to the database home page.
There are two elements to citations in APA style: an in-text citation and a corresponding reference list entry. The in-text citation appears in the body of the paper and directs readers to the reference list entry. The purpose of the reference list entry is for readers to be able to find the source.
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (aka the APA Citation Guide) is available at multiple locations in Western Libraries.
For further information on using APA 7th edition, including examples of other sources types, please use one of these guides:
Company Name. (Year). Advertisement title [Advertisement]. Name of journal, database, or website where advertisement was accessed. URL
Example: Proctor & Gamble Co. (1937). New shampoo startles the country with its beautifying results [Advertisement]. Ad*Access. https://repository.duke.edu/dc/adaccess/BH0397
In-text Citation: (Proctor & Gamble, 1937)
Author. (Year). Title of report. Database (if not found on company’s website). URL.
Example: BMO Financial Group. (2024). 2024 Annual Report to Shareholders. https://www.bmo.com/ir/archive/en/bmo_ar2024.pdf
In-text Citation: (BMO Financial Group, 2024)
Bloomberg Finance L.P. (date). Title. Retrieved from Bloomberg database.
Example: Bloomberg Finance L.P. (2025). Royal Bank of Canada ESG Score. Retrieved from Bloomberg database.
In-text Citation: (Bloomberg, 2025)
Author. (Year, date). Company Name [Company profile]. Database. Retrieved date, from URL.
Example: MarketLine. (2025, February 11). The Toronto-Dominion Bank [Company profile]. Retrieved February 27, 2025, from https://www.marketline.com/
In-text Citation: (MarketLine, 2025).
Author. (Year, date). Title of Report [Country report]. Database. Retrieved date, from URL.
Example: Economist Intelligence Unit. (2025, February 7). One-click report: Australia [Country report]. Retrieved February 27, 2025 from https://www.eiu.com/n/
In-text Citation: (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2025).
Author. (Year, date). Title of report [Content type]. Organization publishing the report or name of the database. URL.
Example: Lombardo, C. (2024, Oct). Coffee & tea production in Canada [Industry report]. IBIS World. https://www.ibisworld.com/
In-text Citation: (Lombardo, 2024)
Author. (Year). Title (Version No.) [if no title then include a brief description of the variables selected] [Content type]. Database. DOI or URL.
Example: Statistics Canada. (2023). Detailed food spending, Canada, regions and provinces (11-10-0125-01) [Data table]. https://doi.org/10.25318/1110012501-eng
In-text Citation: (Statistics Canada, 2023).
