APA Style for Online Business Resources : Guidelines and Sample Citations

Figuring out how to cite online business sources according to APA Style can be confusing. To make things a little easier, we've provided some sample citations along with the APA Style guidelines used to create them.

In-Text Citations: The APA Formatting and Style Guide from Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers formatting guidelines and examples of in-text citations. The section on In-Text Citations: The Basics covers punctuation, short and long quotations, and summary and paraphrase examples, and the section on In-Text Citations: Author/Authors covers citing an author or authors (multiple authors, no author, two or more works by the same author, etc.) as well as citing indirect sources, electronic sources, and sources without page numbers.

This PDF guide to formatting electronic references in APA Style is adapted from the Publication Manual of the APA (6th ed.). It outlines key elements for referencing electronic sources, especially the digital object identifier (DOI).
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Online guide to formatting in-text citations and references according to APA Style.
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Sample Citations

Articles

APA Guidelines:

• If no DOI is assigned to the online content, include the home page URL for the journal, newsletter, or magazine in the reference. Do not include the name of the database. Use this format: Retrieved from http://xxxxx

Journal article with DOI

Aubert, C., & Reynaud, A. (2005). The impact of regulation on cost efficiency: An empirical analysis of Wisconsin water utilities. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 23(3), 383-409. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11123-005-2216-8

Journal article without DOI

Collins, D. (1996). Serving the homeless and low-income communities through business & society/business ethics class projects: The University of Wisconsin-Madison plan. Journal of Business Ethics, 15(1), 67-85. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/journal/10551

Magazine or trade publication article

Cernivec, S. (2014, April). The heart of beer: Specialty malts add variety to craft beer. Beverage Industry, 105(4), 54. Retrieved from http://www.bevindustry.com/

Newspaper article

Harding, R. (2014, June 30). The productivity puzzle. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://www.ft.com/

To cite sources that are not articles, such as blog posts, data files, dissertations, industry reports, newsletters, tweets, websites, and white papers, please see the examples below:

APA Guidelines:

• Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material is likely to change over time (e.g., nonarchived wiki pages).
• Database information may be given for items of limited circulation.
• For dates that cannot be determined, use n.d. (for no date). If the date can reasonably be approximated, put ca. (for circa) followed by the year, inside brackets.
• If the issuing organization assigned a number (e.g., report number, contract number, monograph number) to the report, give that number in parentheses immediately after the title.
• If additional information is necessary for identification and retrieval of a reference, it may be included in brackets immediately after the title and any parenthetical information.
• Identify the publisher as part of the retrieval statement unless the publisher has been identified as the author: Retrieved from Agency Name website: http://www.xxxxxxx
  • If the publisher has been identified as the author, use the format Retrieved from http://xxxxx

  ABI/INFORM Complete

  Report, individual author

  Hamilton, R. (2013). Germany business forecast report - Q4 2013 [BMI industry report]. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Complete database.

  Report, group or corporate author

  Business Monitor International. (2014). Egypt shipping report - Q4 2014. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Complete database.

  GlobalData. (2014, May). Wisconsin electric power company (WEC) - alternative energy - deals and alliances profile (Reference Code GDAE123254D). Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Complete database.

  Annual Reports and SEC Filings

  Annual report from company website

  Netflix. (2014, January 31). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013. Retrieved from http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/3425319291x0x748407/76a245dc-3314-401c-baba-ed229ca9145a/NFLX_AR.PDF

  Target Corporation. (2014, March 14). 2013 annual report. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/annual-reports/pdf-viewer-2013?cover=6725&parts=6724-6726-6727-6730-6728

  SEC/EDGAR filings

  Amazon.com. (2014, July 24). Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2014. Retrieved from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1018724/000101872414000025/amzn-20140630x10q.htm

  Bloomberg Professional

  Data

  Bloomberg L.P. (n.d.). Wausau Paper Corp quarterly profitability ratios in USD, 03/31/12 to 03/31/14. Retrieved July 31, 2014 from Bloomberg Professional database.

  Bloomberg L.P. (n.d.). US dollar swaps (30/360, S/A) curve, last and 1M, 08/28/14 15:02:44 and 07/28/14 [Graph]. Retrieved August 28, 2014 from Bloomberg Professional database.

  Report, individual author

  Moskowitz, M., & Kim, M. (2014, March 5). IBM: The answer is Watson. What is the newest part of IBM's big data/analytics growth engine? [J.P. Morgan North America Equity Research report]. Retrieved from Bloomberg Professional database.

  Business Source Complete

  Report, group or corporate author

  C. Barnes & Co. (2013). Dairy Products Mfg. Industry (NAICS 31151) [2014 Industry & Market series]. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

  IHS. (2014, July 1). Country reports - Ukraine: Economics and country risk. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

  MarketLine. (2012, May 18). Apple, Inc. SWOT analysis. (Reference Code 5B0A0C20-9BB6-4284-A575-AC0F2261F45C) [Company profile]. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

  Checkpoint

  Newsletter article, no author

  Corporate inversions: potential use of executive authority pending Congressional action. (2014, August 14). Federal Taxes Weekly Alert Newsletter (RIA). Retrieved from http://checkpoint.thomsonreuters.com

  Country Commercial Guides on Export.gov

  Corporate author, government report (HTML version: Specific section of a report)

  International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. (2016, April 17). Bulgaria - market overview. In Bulgaria country commercial guide. Retrieved from https://success.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Bulgaria-Market-Overview

  CountryWatch

  HTML version: Specific section of a report, group or corporate author

  CountryWatch. (n.d.). Cultural etiquette. In Belgium country review. Retrieved August 19, 2014 from CountryWatch database.

  PDF version: Specific section of a report, individual author or editor

  Social overview. (2014). In D. Y. Coleman (Ed.), Belgium country review (pp. 154-207). Retrieved from CountryWatch database.

  PDF version: Entire report, individual author or editor

  Coleman, D. Y. (Ed.). (2014). Belgium country review. Retrieved from CountryWatch database.

  D&B Business Browser

  Report, group or corporate author

  Dun & Bradstreet. (n.d.). Company summary for Kohl's Corporation. Retrieved April 12, 2017 from D&B Business Browser database.

  Dun & Bradstreet. (2017, March 31). Ratio comparisons for Kohl's Corporation. Retrieved from D&B Business Browser database.

  News & Analysis: Analysts' Reports

  Tunick, B. (2017, February 23). Kohl's Corporation - Doing all the right things but traffic remains elusive; Reiterate UP. Retrieved from D&B Business Browser database.

  Google Finance and Yahoo Finance

  Web page, no author

  Financial statements for Harley-Davidson Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2014 from https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AHOG&fstype=ii&ei=jILaU_jUKsqfrAHHp4GoCA

  HOG historical prices, Harley Davidson, Inc. common stock. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2014 from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=HOG+Historical+Prices

  IBISWorld

  Report, individual author

  Diment, D. (2014, June). IBISWorld industry report 71211: Museums in the US. Retrieved from IBISWorld database.

  IMF eLibrary Data

  Data

  International Monetary Fund. (n.d.). Government finance selected indicators: Albania. In International Financial Statistics (IFS). Retrieved June 10, 2016 from http://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=60998109

  IndustriusCFO Industry Metrics

  Data

  IndustriusCFO. (n.d.). Industry metrics four years - NAICS 31183 - tortilla manufacturing. Retrieved April 28, 2016 from IndustriusCFO Industry Metrics database.

  IntelliConnect

  Journal article without DOI

  Garlock, D. C., & Khalaf, A. N. (2014, July 18). Debt vs. equity: Myths, best practices and practical considerations for U.S. tax aspects of related-party financings. TAXES - The Tax Magazine, 92(8), 37-66. Retrieved from https://intelliconnect.cch.com

  Mergent Online

  Data

  Mergent. (n.d.). Johnson Controls Inc company financials as reported annual balance sheet, 09/30/2009 to 09/30/2013. Retrieved August 20, 2014 from Mergent Online database.

  Mintel Academic

  Report, individual author

  O'Donnell, F. (2014, July). Marketing to sports fans - US. Retrieved from Mintel Academic database.

  Policy Brief

  Report, individual author

  Bhaduri, A. (2014, January). What remains of the theory of demand management in a globalizing world? (No. 130, 2014) [Policy brief]. Retrieved from Levy Economics Institute of Bard College website: http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/ppb_130.pdf

  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

  Doctoral dissertation, from a commercial database

  Convertino, G. J. (2008). A perspective on current human resources practices by human resource executives at institutions of higher education (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. (UMI Number: 3329877)

  ReferenceUSA

  Data set

  Infogroup. (2015). U.S. Businesses [Data file]. Retrieved January 28, 2015 from ReferenceUSA database.

  Infogroup. (2015). U.S. Consumers / Lifestyles [Data file]. Retrieved January 28, 2015 from ReferenceUSA database.

  Simmons OneView

  Data set

  Simmons Research LLC. (2012). Spring 2012 NCS adult study 12-month [Data file]. Retrieved August 21, 2014 from Simmons OneView database.

  Websites, Internet Message Boards, Electronic Mailing Lists, and Social Media

  Blog post

  Brown, J. M. (2014, September 1). How corporate share buybacks are destroying America [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2014/09/01/how-corporate-share-buybacks-are-destroying-america/

  Blog comment

  Ericson, R. (2014, September 1). Re: How corporate share buybacks are destroying America [Blog comment]. Retrieved from http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2014/09/01/how-corporate-share-buybacks-are-destroying-america/

  Twitter update or tweet

  Yellen, J. [The_Yellen]. (2014, September 2). Why a rising jobless rate will be good for Yellen http://ift.tt/ /1plXn4A [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/The_Yellen/status/506863419086356480

  Web page, group or corporate author

  Uber. (n.d.). About Uber. Retrieved September 2, 2014 from https://www.uber.com/about

  White paper

  Report, group or corporate author