Business resources that are commonly used in assignments at CityU can be challenging to cite. APA is not designed for business resources, but there are rules that we can apply to make such citations consistent with APA style. Refer to the following table to see examples from each of our specialized business databases.
Note: All academic articles covering business topics can be cited in APA style according to the Use APA Style LibGuide.
Please note: The in-text citation examples below are parenthetical. You can also use narrative in-text citations when writing, which is encouraged. You can read more about parenthetical vs. narrative in-text citations here:
| Source | Reference List | In-Text |
| CIA World Factbook |
Format: Central Intelligence Agency. (year, month). Title. In The World Factbook. Retrieved date, from URL Example: Central Intelligence Agency. (2021, October 6). Afghanistan. In The World Factbook. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/ |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (Central Intelligence Agency, 2021) |
| EDGAR (SEC Filings) |
Format: Company Name. (year, month date). Form Title. URL Example: Starbucks Corp. (2020, November 16). Form 10-K (Annual Report). |
Format: (Company name, year) Example: (Starbucks Corp., 2020) |
| Hoover's Company Profiles |
Format: Author. (year, month date). Report title. [Report type]. Retrieved date, from homepage URL Example: D&B Hoover’s. (2021, January 1). Nordstrom Inc. [Company Profile]. Retrieved June 5, 2021, from www.dnb.com |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (D&B Hoover's, 2021) *See note |
| GlobalEDGE |
Format: Author. (year, month). Page title. Retrieved date, from homepage URL Example: GlobalEDGE. (2021, August). Albania: Risk assessment. Retrieved August 13, 2021 from https://globaledge.msu.edu/ |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (GlobalEDGE, 2021) |
| IBISWorld |
Format: Author. (year, month). Title (Industry Report #). IBISWorld. Retrieved year, date, from homepage URL Example: O’Connor, C. (2019, August). Family clothing stores in the US (Industry Report 44814). IBISWorld. Retrieved January 27, 2020, from https://www.ibisworld.com/ |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (O'Connor, 2019) |
| MarketLine Company Report |
Format: Author. (year, month). Report title. [Report type]. homepage url Example: MarketLine. (2021, August). The Walt Disney Company. [Company report]. https://www.marketline.com/ |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (MarketLine, 2021) *See note |
| Mergent Online |
Format: Author. (year, month day - if available). Company name (Ticker Symbol). Retrieved date, year, from URL Example: Mergent Online. (2021). Starbucks Corp. (NMS: SBUX). Retrieved June 15, 2021, from www.mergentonline.com |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (Mergent Online, 2021) *See note |
| Statista |
Format (without an individual author): Author. (year). Title [Type of resource]. Retrieved date, from URL Example (without an individual author): Statista. (2021). Coffee market in the U.S. [Dossier]. Retrieved June 15, 2021, www.statista.com Format (with an individual author); Author. (year). Title [Type of resource]. Publisher. Retrieved date, from URL Example (with an individual author): Conway, J. (2021, May 26). Sales of the leading ready-to-drink (RTD) cappuccino/iced coffee brands in the United States in 2020 (in million U.S. dollars) [Graph]. Statista. Retrieved June 15, 2021, from www.statista.com |
Format: (Author, year) Examples: (Statista, 2021) (Conway, 2021) *See note |
| US Census Data |
Please see: APA Style Blog: Data Sets |
|
| World Bank Group: Doing Business Report |
Format: World Bank Group. (year). Title. In Doing Business. homepage URL. Example: World Bank Group. (2020). Economy profile of Afghanistan. In Doing Business 2020. https://www.doingbusiness.org/en/doingbusiness |
Format: (Author, year) Example: (World Bank Group, 2020) *See note |
*Note: If you have multiple stats or reports from the same year by the same author, you can differentiate by adding a letter after the year (a, b, c, d, etc.). This is true for any citation which shares an author and a date. You can read more about this here:
As noted above, citing business resources in APA can be tricky. In general, we want our readers to be able to locate the information we cite. However, many business databases and reports change over time and are not archived.
Items that are archived are “static,” meaning that they are cataloged and remain accessible in their current form. Items that are regularly updated and not archived are “non-static,” meaning that they change over time (and older versions cannot be accessed).
For items that are static, no retrieved date is needed.
Example: Starbucks. (2020, November 16). Form 10-K. https://www.sec.gov/edgar/search/#/q=starbucks
For items that are non-static, a retrieved date is required. The URL you will use in this instance is a generic homepage URL.
Example: O’Connor, C. (2019, August). Family clothing stores in the US (Industry Report 44814). IBISWorld. Retrieved January 27, 2020, from https://www.ibisworld.com/
Please note: In APA 7, you should never use a CityU-specific database URL unless it is specifically requested by your instructor. This is why in the examples above, you see homepage URLs listed for items that can be found in the library collection.
For more information about URL rules in APA style, please visit:
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