What if there's no author?
Many business databases and corporate websites do not have individual authors. The best solution is often to treat the citation as having an unknown author, where you use the title of the item you're citing instead; sometimes you can identify an organizational author, such as the database company or the corporation that made the website.
What if there's no date of publication?
Be careful -- not having a date of publication means you can't know how up-to-date the information is.
However, you can always put "n.d." (which stands for "no date") to show your professor that you tried to find a publication date and couldn't. Do not leave it blank if you can't find a date.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
by
For your Library assignment in Business 100, citation according to the American Psychology Association (APA) has two parts:
1) In-text citation
2) Reference list entry
The in-text citation is short, in parentheses, and comes immediately after any quotation, fact, number, or idea that came from your research.
The reference list is a list of every resource you used for quotations, facts, numbers or ideas. Each reference list entry has detailed information about the resource.
APA from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University
This is a very reliable and useful resource for APA-style citation. Navigate using the links on the left-hand side of the pages.
Most useful for Business 100:
Reference List: Electronic Sources
This link has citation information for websites with an author (like IBISWorld), websites with no author (like most company websites), and Wikipedia articles.
Other important links:
In-text Citation: Basics
In-text Citation: Author/Authors
Reference List: Basic Rules
Reference List: Author/Authors
Reference List: Articles in Periodicals
Reference List: Books
Reference List: Other Print Resources
Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
Include the author and year of publication.
The company "employs 52 people full-time" (Smith, 2012).
If the "author" is a corporation or organization, use the name as the author:
Microsoft is "is committed to responsible business practices and service to communities" (Microsoft, 2016).
If there is no author, use the document title in Italics:
Some sources say that "32% of eligible voters don't vote" (Electoral Statistics, 2011).
The Reference List includes detailed information on the sources you have cited.
Often, online resources will not have a specific rule. You have to use your judgment and decide how to create the Reference List entry to the best of your ability. Consult the OWL for guidance and rules.
Examples for citing reports or documents from online databases:
Title of Report/Document. (Date or n.d.). Name of database or webpage. URL.
WestJet Airlines (2020). Business Market Research Collection. https://login.libproxy.uregina.ca:8443/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.uregina.ca/docview/1860764465?accountid=13480
Tips:
1. The first part of the Reference List entry must be identical to what is in the in-text citation.
2. Often, sources will be a combination of type (for example, an online magazine article will require you combine the rules for citing a periodical and the rules for citing an electronic resource).
3. The purpose of citation is to make sure your reader can easily find where you got your quotation, number, fact, or idea from. When you're not sure what to do, ask a friend to let you know if your citation makes it clear where you got your information.
