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APA – Citing Sources

Reports

Reports can be written by researchers and published by a university or other research institute. They can also be written and published by authorities or other organizations, and these reports can have personal authors or be authored on behalf of the organization. In the latter case, the organization is the author. 

Research reports are stated in the same ways as books but with the added possibility to also state any name and number of the report series. The name and number of the series are usually found on the front or back of the publication, or on the title page inside the report.

Reports can be published in printed form but are usually also, or only, published in digital form online.

Report with personal author

Basic format:

In printed form:

Author, A., & Author, B. (year). Title of report (series title and series number, if appropriate). Publisher.

In digital form:

Author, A., & Author, B. (year). Title of report (series title and series number, if appropriate). Publisher. https://xxxx

References:

In printed form:

Conway, S., & Forrester, R. (1999). Innovation and teamworking: Combining perspectives through a focus on team boundaries (Aston Business School Research paper series No. 99:5). Aston Business School Research Institute.

In digital form:

Kessy, S. S. A., & Urio, F. M. (2006). The contribution of microfinance institutions to poverty reduction in Tanzania (Research Report No. 06.3). http://www.repoa.or.tz/documents_storage/Publications/Reports/06.3_Kessy_and_Urio.pdf

In-text citations:

  • According to an earlier study (Conway & Forrester, 1999) it is ...

When the authors are written in the running text you write 'and' instead of the ampersand (&):

  • Kessy and Urio (2006) argue for a ...

Report with organizational author

Basic format:

In printed form:

Organization. (year). Title of report (series title and series number, if appropriate). Publisher.

When the organizational author and publisher are the same, you leave the publisher field in the reference empty.

In digital form:

Organization. (year). Title of report (series title and series number, if appropriate). https://xxxx

References:

In printed form:

International Atomic Energy Agency. (1994). Assessment and comparison of waste management system costs for nuclear and other energy sources (Technical reports series No. 366). 

In digital form:

World Health Organization. (2017). Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and cycling: methods and user guide on physical activity, air pollution, injuries and carbon impact assessments. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/155631/E96097.pdf

In-text citations:

  • According to a recent study (World Health Organization, 2017) it is clear that ...
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency (1994) reviews different ...

If an organization has an established acronym (abbreviation), you write the full name the first time you cite the source, include the acronym within parentheses, and use only the acronym the subsequent times you cite the same source. Note that if you write the full name within parenthesis, you write the acronym within square brackets, but if you write the full name in the running text you state the acronym within ordinary parentheses.

First time:

  • This is reviewed in a report (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017) ...
  • The World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) has in a report shown that the ...

Subsequent times:

  • In the report (WHO, 2017) it becomes clear that ...
  • WHO (2017) continues to ...