When information is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, the source of that information must be documented. Otherwise, you are plagiarizing. To help you in avoiding plagiarism, review this tutorial to learn about academic integrity.
In most cases that standard citation style for citing sources used in academic business writing is the American Psychological Association (APA) style. Check with your instructor to see if they have a preference for a different citation style.
APA (American Psychological Association) 7th edition (new Oct 2019!):
- Print copies located at the Information Desk and in the Reference Collection under call # BF76.7.P83 2020
- List of changes for students - an informal list of the most notable changes between APA 6th and 7th relevant to undergraduate students based on the parts of the manual that the librarians typically see students need to comply with for their papers
- APA Style website with lots of examples for citing social media, sample Word papers for students and much more help than they previously provided
- APA Guide at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) now uses 7th
- Recommended YouTube videos (12 to 24 minutes each)
APA (American Psychological Association) 6th edition:
- APA Style Guide to Citing Electronic Resources (6th ed.)
- APA Style website
- APA Guide at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
- APA quick tutorial videos from Memorial University Newfoundland Libraries
- Publication Manual of the APA (print book) - the official guide to all APA style rules. BF76.7.P83 in Reference and Information Desk
- APA Citation Guide maintained by Simon Fraser University librarians - especially good for Canadian government publications
- APA "Exposed" Tutorial - by Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, can watch straight through or jump around contents
- Format your paper for APA in Google Docs - YouTube video, about 7 minutes
- Format your paper for APA in MS Word, two recommended YouTube videos - 5-minute video, 19 minute video (much more detail including section headings)
APA Examples
Company Documents
Annual Reports
Rules
- The company name is considered the author.
- The title of the report should be italicized.
- When accessed online include a retrieval statement and URL.
Examples
Annual Report on a company's website
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. (2019). Annual Report. Retrieved from:
https://www.cibc.com/en/about-cibc/investor-relations/annual-reports-an…
In-Text Citation → (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce [CIBC], 2019)
*Note: By placing [CIBC] in brackets as a shortened version, you can use shortened company name and date in the remainder
of your paper - eg. (CIBC, 2019)
Annual Report retrieved from a database or collection
Shopify Inc. (2020, May 6). Management's Discussion and Analysis. Retrieved from SEDAR:
http://www.sedar.com
In-Text Citation → (Shopify Inc., 2020)
Press Release
Rules
Press Releases are announcements, and also referred to as media releases or news releases.
A press release has several parts:
- Title includes company author and captures content in title
- Date and location of release
- Content section which always includes a section about the company
- Contact information for further information
Companies often have a company news centre on their corporate website.
Example:
Shopify Inc. (2020, April 1). Shopify Provides Business Update Relating to COVID-19
[Press release]. Retrieved from
https://news.shopify.com/shopify-provides-business-update-relating-to-c…
In-text citation → (Shopify Inc., 2020)
Date revised: 17-May-2020