Common Business Citations in APA Format

Consult the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) for detailed explanations and additional examples.  Copies are available at the Cal State San Marcos Circulation Desk (BF76.7.P83 2001).

Cite the reference in the paper's  text as (last name or company name, year).
Example: Apparel sales in sporting goods are targeted to a local segment according to Longboard Grotto, (2003).

Annual Reports

Citigroup, Inc. (2003). Annual Report 2003. Retrieved December 1, 2003, from the Factiva database   http://global.factiva.com

Arrow International, Inc. (2003). 10-K Annual Report 2003. Retrieved July 25, 2003, from SEC EDGAR database http://sec.gov/edgar

Company Financials

Beckman Coulter, Inc. (2003) Company Details 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2003, from Mergent Online. website http://www.mergentonline.com
 

Chapter or part of a book:

Edell J. A., & Burke, M. C. (1998). Feelings towards ads. In Bearden, W. O. & Netemeyer, R. G. Handbook of Marketing Scales (2nd ed., pp. 283-285). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Standard & Poor's. (2005, January 13).  Industry Survey's: Retailing: Specialty. New York, McGraw-Hill.

City Ordinance

San Diego, Ca., Pro. Ordinance 61.22 (1980)

Company information from business databases

Use this format for, Hoover's Online, Factiva, Lexis-Nexis.

Apple Computer, Inc. (2003). US Company Database Full Report. Retrieved May 23, 2003, from Lexis-Nexis Academic database. http://web.lexis-nexis.com.

IBM, Inc. (2003). Company Profile. Retrieved June 2, 2004, from the Factiva Online database http://www.global/factiva.com
 

Company Website

Qualcomm (2003). FY 2003 2nd Quarter. Retrieved July 27, 2003, from the Qualcomm, Inc. website http://www.qualcomm.com.

The Longboard Grotto (2003).  Retrieved July 27, 2003, from the Longboard Grotto website http://www.thelongboardgrotto.com

San Diego Daily Transcript (2002). SanDiegoSource. Retrieved on July 23, 2002 from http://www.sddt.com

Common Business Databases

Business Monitor International. Bulgaria freight transport (2008, March 15). Retrieved April 28, 2008, from Business Monitor Online.

Government Report

Use this format for STAT-USA, FED stats and USA Trade Online.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2002).  "Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF3) - Sample Data, Table P19 Age by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over".  Retrieved 25 September 2002 from U.S. Census http://factfinder.census.gov.
In text Citation: (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000)

Personal Communication

Personal communication is not cited in list of references according to the American Psychological Association. Instead in the text of your report if you were citing an interview you would include something like this example after your sentence or paragraph using the interview information.

T.K. Lukes (personal communication, April 18, 2001)

T.K. Lukes. Company name.  Title. (personal communication, April 18, 2001).

Additional style citation guides:

Arizona State University West (2002).  APA Style Guide for Electronic Business Publications. Retrieved October 14, 2003 from http://www.west.asu.edu/library/research/reference/business/APAbusiness.html

Style guide finder:  Quick summaries of MLA, APA, Chicago, and others, including how to cite online sources.

For updates or entry requests: email: afiegen@csusm.edu

Compiled by
Cecilia Villegas, CSUSM Graduate
Cal State San Marcos
Last updated: Nov. 2006