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APA Style for Online Business Resources

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.

APA Style Resources

APA Style Guide to Electronic References (APA)
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).
Access: All access requires a UW-Madison NetID to log in. You must be a current UW-Madison faculty member, student, or staff to use this database either on or off-campus.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition (Print Resource)
Call Number: Business Library Reference Collection (1st Floor) Z253 .A52 2010

Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue University)
Online guide to formatting in-text citations and references according to APA Style.
Access: Available to everyone.

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.

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. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11123-005-2216-8

OR

Roos, A., & Schut, F. T. (2012). Spillover effects of supplementary on basic health insurance: Evidence from the Netherlands. The European Journal of Health Economics: HEPAC, 13(1), 51-62. doi:10.1007/s10198-010-0279-6

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/

Sample Citations: Other Sources

Blog posts, data files, dissertations, industry reports, newsletters, tweets, websites, white papers, etc.

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
  • Do not italicize the titles of blog posts, online forum messages, comments, status updates, and so forth. Do italicize titles of reports and other documents that stand alone. If the distinction is unclear for a particular document (as may sometimes be the case when the organization of a site is itself unclear), authors should use their own judgment to decide whether to italicize. Err on the side of not italicizing.
  • If you cannot find the reference example you need in the Publication Manual, choose the example that is most like your source and follow that format. Sometimes you may need to combine elements of more than one reference format.

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 http://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: http://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. (2017, February 24). Bulgaria – market overview. In Bulgaria country commercial guide. Retrieved from https://www.export.gov/article?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

Profile & Financials

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 http://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 http://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. (2017). Spring 2017 NHCS adult study 12-month [Data file]. Retrieved November 28, 2017 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 http://twitter.com/The_Yellen/status/506863419086356480

Web page, group or corporate author

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

White paper

Report, group or corporate author

U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General. (2014, January 7). Providing non-bank financial services for the underserved (Report Number: RARC-WP-14-007) [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2014/rarc-wp-14-007.pdf