apa citing research report

Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to Cite a Report in APA

How to Cite a Report in APA

This guide will teach you how to cite a report in APA and create accurate references and text in-citations for various types of reports. That includes citations for  government reports, annual reports, and reports made by both individuals, task forces, and organizations. The content of this guide is based on the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 329-331).

Are you looking for information on how to cite a different kind of resource? Check out this EasyBib guide on creating an APA citation for a web page , or this one on formatting an APA book citation .

Guide Overview

What is gray literature, when the title doesn’t describe the literature type, when the author and publisher name are the same, how to cite a report from an organization or government agency, how to cite a report with listed author(s), how to cite a report that is part of a series, how to cite a report by a group, task force, or working group, how to cite an annual report, how to cite a press release, what you need.

To begin, let’s take a few moments to define what gray literature is.

Basically, gray literature includes any research or work that was produced by an individual or organization through non-traditional publishing routes.

A report is one example of gray literature. Reports are original research documents that are published by companies, organizations, or working groups that are intended to present the key findings of a specific research project. Since they are not distributed in a traditional way, reports are considered gray literature.

Though gray literature isn’t a traditional source type (like books, journals, newspapers, etc.), there can be a lot of value in gray literature.

Types include

• Annual reports
• Codes of ethics
• Conference proceedings
• Financial health reports
• Government accountability reports
• GrantsPeriodic reports
• Issue briefs
• Policy briefs
• Pharmacological studies
• Press releases
• Technical reports
• Unpublished clinical trials

In some cases, the type of gray literature that you are referencing may not be clear by the title alone, as is sometimes the case with policy briefs and press releases . In these instances, you should include a bracketed description of the gray literature immediately after the title.

Author last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Date published). Title of the work [Work description] (Associated number) . Publisher name. DOI or URL

To see an example of brackets in use, go down to the section on how to cite a press release .

According to the Publication Manual , when the author and publisher are the same, do not add the publisher element (329). To avoid redundancy in these references, you only need to use the name as the author.

Author last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Date published). Title of the work [Work description] (Associated number) . DOI or URL

In this example, the report has been both authored and published by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In cases such as these, provide the name of the organization or agency only once as the author element at the beginning of the reference.

U.S. Department of the Interior. (2016). Agency financial report FY 2016. https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/doi_fy_2016_afr.pdf

In-text citation example:

• Parenthetical citation: (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2016)
• Narrative citation: U.S. Department of the Interior (2016)

If you’re still a little unsure about how to cite a report, try our EasyBib citation form for reports .

If you are interested in learning more about how to cite gray literature, check out Section 10.4 of the Publication Manual .

Organization or Agency. (Year Published). Title of report or gray literature in sentence case (Associated number). Publisher Name. DOI or URL

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. (2017). NIH Turning discovery into health. (NIH Publication No. 11-7634). https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/about-nih/discovery-into-health/nih-turning-discovery-into-health.pdf

Some government publications will have many departments listed as the author. According to the Publication Manual , you should choose the most detailed department and use that as the in-text citation author (Section 9.11).

• Parenthetical citation: (National Institutes of Health, 2017)
• Narrative citation: National Institutes of Health (2017)

If the report has a specific person or persons listed on the title page, then their names belong in the author position, and the organization belongs in the publisher position.

1st author last name, First initial. Middle initial., & 2nd Author last name, First initial, Middle initial. (Year Published). Title of report in sentence case (Associated number). Publisher Name. DOI or URL

Gerling, M., & Wilson, T. (2019). Evaluating the June area survey’s field enumerator training (RDD-19-01) . U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Research and Development Division. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Education_and_Outreach/Reports,_Presentations_and_Conferences/reports/Evaluating_the_June_Area_Surveys_Field_Enumerator_Training.pdf

For this example, we have chosen a research report which utilizes the U.S. Research and Development Division’s own indexing system (RDD-19-01). If the report is presented with a report number like this, it is included in the reference within parentheses right after the title.

In addition, there are multiple government agencies responsible for the report in addition to the individual authors. In this case, the agencies are all included in the publisher position and separated by a comma.

In-text citation:

• Parenthetical citation : (Gerling & Wilson, 2019)
• Narrative citation : Gerling & Wilson (2019)

Here’s one more example reference:

Gorbunova, Y. (2013). Laws of attrition: Crackdown on Russia’s civil society after Putin’s return to the presidency . Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/04/24/laws-attrition/crackdown-russias-civil-society-after-putins-return-presidency#page

Note: Since no report number was identified, it was not included in the citation.

Author last name, First initial. Middle initial., & Author 2 last name, First initial, Middle initial. (Year published). Title of report in sentence case (Series Name, Series Number). Publisher Name. DOI or URL

Robson, S.G., Heiny, J.S., Arnold, L.R. (2000). Geohydrology of the shallow aquifers in the Boulder-Longmont area, Colorado (Hydrologic Atlas, 746). https://doi.org/10.3133/ha746D

• Parenthetical citation : (Robson et al., 2000)
• Narrative citation : Robson et al. (2000)

Name of Group. (Year Published). Title of report in sentence case (Associated number) . Publisher Name. DOI or URL

International Space Station Independent Safety Task Force. (2007). Final report. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/170368main_IIST_%20Final%20Report.pdf

• Parenthetical citation: (International Space Station Independent Safety Task Force, 2007)
• Narrative citation: International Space Station Independent Safety Task Force (2007)

Name of Organization or Company. (Year Published). Title of report in sentence case. URL

Yum! Brands. (2019). 2018 Annual Report. https://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDF/NYSE_YUM_2018.pdf

Since annual reports are almost always published by the companies or organizations that commissioned them, the author and publisher name would be the same in a reference. To avoid this duplication, the organization name only needs to be listed once as the author; the publisher element can be left out.

• Parenthetical citation : (Yum! Brands, 2019)
• Narrative citation : Yum! Brands (2019)

Author Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Date published). Title of the work [Work description] (Associated number) . Publisher Name. DOI or URL

Chegg. (2019, June 6). Chegg reveals first of its kind equity plan to help its US employees pay off their student debt. https://investor.chegg.com/Press-Releases/press-release-details/2019/Chegg-reveals-first-of-its-kind-equity-plan-to-help-its-US-employees-pay-off-their-student-debt/default.aspx

• Parenthetical citation : (Chegg, 2019)
• Narrative citation : Chegg (2019)

A reference entry for a report, and other gray literature, will contain the the following source details:

• Author name
• Date published. Either year (2020) or year, month day (2020, February 14)
• Title of the work (in sentence case)
• Associated number (if applicable). Examples: Report No. 22, Project No. 567, Issue 101, etc.
• Work description (if needed). Examples: [Grant], [Policy brief], [Press release]
• Publisher name
• DOI or URL (if applicable). DOi would be formatted as https://doi.org/xxxx

Here’s a basic structure for citing gray literature:

Author last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Date published). Title of the work (Associated number) . Publisher Name. DOI or URL

American Psychological Association. (2020a). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

American Psychological Association. (2020b). Style-Grammar-Guidelines. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/parenthetical-versus-narrative

Published August 10, 2012. Updated March 24, 2020.

Written and edited by Michele Kirschenbaum and Elise Barbeau. Michele Kirschenbaum is a school library media specialist and the in-house librarian at EasyBib.com. Elise Barbeau is the Citation Specialist at Chegg. She has worked in digital marketing, libraries, and publishing.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

To cite a report in APA style, you need to have basic information including the name of the author/organization, publication year, title of the report, publisher, and/or URL. The templates for in-text citations and reference list entries for a report, along with examples, are given below.

In-text citation template and example:

Author Surname/Organization name (Publication Year)

Logan and Stults (2011)

Parenthetical:

(Author Surname/Organization name, Publication Year)

(Logan & Stults, 2011)

Reference list entry template and example:

Author or organization. (Year of publication). Title of the report (Report No. if applicable). Publisher. URL

Logan, J. R., & Stults, B. J. (2011). The persistence of segregation in the metropolis: New findings from the 2010 Census (Census Brief for Project US2010). American Communities Project, Brown University. www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/Data/Report/report2.pdf

The report title should be in sentence case and italics.

To cite a source with no title in APA style, it is important that you know some basic information such as the name of the author, date if possible, and other information depending upon the type of publication, such as journal article, book chapter, or map. The templates and examples for in-text citations and reference list entries for a source with no title are given below.

Author Surname (Publication Year)

Google (n.d.)

(Author Surname, Publication Year)

(Google, n.d.)

Author Surname, F. (Publication Year). [Description of the work]. Source. URL (if applicable)

Google. (n.d.). [Map of Google to travel by road from Chennai to New Delhi, India]. Retrieved August 21, 2021, from https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Chennai,+Tamil+Nadu/New+Delhi,+Delhi/@20.6384587,69.8777929,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a5265ea4f7d3361:0x6e61a70b6863d433!2m2!1d80.2707184!2d13.0826802!1m5!1m1!1s0x390cfd5b347eb62d:0x52c2b7494e204dce!2m2!1d77.2090212!2d28.6139391

Note that the “retrieved” date should only be included if the source is likely to change or become unavailable. Since the Google map cited in the example entry may be slightly different depending on the day (due to traffic conditions, road closures, etc.), the “retrieved” date is included.

APA Citation Examples

Writing Tools

Citation Generators

Other Citation Styles

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

APA 7th Edition Citation Examples

• Volume and Issue Numbers
• Page Numbers
• Undated Sources
• Citing a Source Within a Source
• In-Text Citations
• Academic Journals
• Encyclopedia Articles
• Book, Film, and Product Reviews
• Online Classroom Materials
• Conference Papers

Format for technical and research reports

• Court Decisions
• Treaties and Other International Agreements
• Federal Regulations: I. The Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Regulations: II. The Federal Register
• Executive Orders
• Charter of the United Nations
• Federal Statutes
• Dissertations and Theses
• Interviews, E-mail Messages + Other Personal Communications
• Social Media
• Business Sources
• PowerPoints
• AI: ChatGPT, etc.

Author last name, first initial. (Date).  Title of report  (Publication No.). Publisher. DOI or URL

• Author:  List the last name, followed by the first initial (and second initial). See  Authors  for more information.
• Date:  List the date between parentheses, followed by a period
• Title of report:  In italics. Capitalize the first word of the title, subtitle, and proper nouns.
• Publication number: Omit if unavailable for the source that you're citing
• Publisher:  List the report's publisher. If the publisher is the same as the author, do not list the name a second time.
• DOI or URL:  List DOI or URL if available

See specific examples below.

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2010). Information security: Concerted effort needed to consolidate and secure Internet connections at federal agencies (Publication No. GAO-10-237). http://www.gao.gov/assets/310/301876.pdf

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2010). Information security: Concerted effort needed to consolidate and secure Internet connections at federal agencies (Publication No. GAO-10-237).

See  Publication Manual , 10.4.

• << Previous: Conference Papers
• Next: Legal Materials >>
• Last Updated: Oct 22, 2024 4:36 PM
• URL: https://libguides.umgc.edu/apa-examples

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

APA Sample Paper

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Media Files: APA Sample Student Paper  ,  APA Sample Professional Paper

This resource is enhanced by Acrobat PDF files. Download the free Acrobat Reader

Note: The APA Publication Manual, 7 th Edition specifies different formatting conventions for student  and  professional  papers (i.e., papers written for credit in a course and papers intended for scholarly publication). These differences mostly extend to the title page and running head. Crucially, citation practices do not differ between the two styles of paper.

However, for your convenience, we have provided two versions of our APA 7 sample paper below: one in  student style and one in  professional  style.

Note: For accessibility purposes, we have used "Track Changes" to make comments along the margins of these samples. Those authored by [AF] denote explanations of formatting and [AWC] denote directions for writing and citing in APA 7. 

APA 7 Student Paper:

Apa 7 professional paper:.