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Business & Management

A research guide for topics in business and management.

Find Industry Reports

Overview

An industry report is a market assessment tool that takes a comprehensive look at a particular industry or market. The form and content of an industry report varies between databases. Some common elements of an industry report include definition of the industry market, industry growth rate, industry total revenues, industry segmentation, industry distribution channels, industry life cycle and forecasts, and top companies in the industry.  

Search Business Source Ultimate

  1. Enter keywords describing the industry you wish to search (ex. healthcare, oil and gas, etc.)
  2. Under “Publication Type” select “Industry Profile”
  3. Click search 

business source ultimate publication type box with "industry profile" selected

Pro Tip: If looking for a full industry analysis, try to avoid “Snapshots” or other articles that only briefly examine one aspect of the industry. 

Not sure what industry your company belongs to? Company reports in Business Source Ultimate will often have industry categories listed on the report record. Learn how to locate company reports on our Find Company Reports/Profile page.

Search Data USA

Industry reports within this database are built with U.S. public data. To browse, use the menu to select “Industries.” 

Search IBISWorld

Type the industry name in the search bar OR browse reports by clicking the “Industry Reports” drop-down menu at the top of the page and perusing the reports available (organized by geographic area and sector). 

Pro Tip: Searching on a company name will sometimes bring up the appropriate industry report(s). However, this is generally limited to large, publicly traded companies. If you are unsure of which industry your business belongs to, please ask a librarian.

Mergent Online

Industry reports in Mergent are best located by searching for industries as they relate to a particular company. This is a great option if you are conducting research or analyzing an industry as it relates to a specific company or brand. Therefore, when searching for industry reports in Mergent it is best to search by company name or ticker first.

  1. Search for your company name or ticker symbol
  2. Under the "Company Reports" tab, select "Industry reports"

screenshot of disney company report in mergent highlighting the industry reports tab

Search Statista

Click on the “Reports” drop-down menu at the top of the page and choose "Industry Reports” 

screenshot showing reports dropdown menu in statista

Browse the reports or use the search bar to find a particular industry. Select reports from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France are available, as well as some with global coverage. 

Find Articles about an Industry

While reports are good places to start, you should also gather and learn from the many journal articles about your industry and top competitors. Business Source Ultimate and ABI/INFORM Complete provide access to full-text articles from scholarly journals, professional publications, magazines, and newspapers. 

Search these databases using keywords related to your industry. Mix and match terms and phrases to locate articles which indicate trends, recent events, or marketing tactics. For more information about using keywords, please see our guide: 

Find Industry Association Websites

You can locate industry association websites by running an advanced Google search using the following format: industry description + association. You can also add site:.org to your search to ensure that you only return results that have a .org domain. 

Example search: site:.org brewery + association