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Citing Business Sources in APA Style

A guide to citing business information sources according the the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition

Reference List Examples: Statistical Sources

How can I cite numeric or statistical data according to APA Style?

According to the APA Style blog entry "I can't find the example reference I need in the Publication Manual, what should I do?",an APA Style reference should contain four elements:

  1. The author's name "who"
  2. The date of publication "when"
  3. the title of the work "what"
  4. publication or source information "where" (DOI or URL, if online)

The following examples are my interpretations of APA Style. You may not agree with these, or your specific example may not match the example that I crafted. Don't panic - follow the instructions in the blog post linked above in order to determine the four elements for your own reference list entry. The data set notation, placed in square brackets after the title, provides additional information for identification and retrieval purposes. You should italicize the title of the data set. Please not that due to technical limitations, the examples below are not formatted with a hanging indent, so make sure that your Reference List entries are formatted properly.


 

5.1: Canadian Business Counts (Statistics Canada)

Tip: as this data set is updated twice a year (in June and in December) and consists of a number of tables, you should cite the issue date, table number, and the table title in your reference.

Statistics Canada (2020, December). Table 33-10-0304-01 Canadian business counts, with employees, December 2020. [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.25318/3310030401-eng 

5.2: Canadian Industry Statistics (Industry Canada)

Industry Canada (2021). Canadian industry statistics (CIS): Businesses, furniture stores (NAICS 44211) [Data set]. https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/app/cis/businesses-entreprises/44211

5.3: Data Tables (Statistics Canada)

Tip: remember to include the table number as well as the table title, and DOI, if available. Look at the very bottom of the data table for the DOI. 

Statistics Canada. (2020). Table 18-10-0001-01 Monthly average retail prices for gasoline and fuel oil, by geography [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.25318/1810000101-eng

5.4: Census of Canada (Statistics Canada)

Tip: Statistics Canada provides sample citations for Census Profiles (formerly Community Profiles) but these are not in APA Style. Look at the very bottom of the Census Profile for an URL which can be used in your Reference List entry.

Statistics Canada (2017). Census Profile, 2016 Census: St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario (Census Metropolitan Area and Ontario (Province).  [Data set].  https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E 

5.5:  Financial Performance Data (Industry Canada)

Note: Financial Performance Data contains data for the 2019 data year, which was released (published) in 2021.  Here is a suggested Reference list entry indicating the data year, geographic area, incorporation status, and NAICS code that were selected. Add the URL for the Financial Performance Data home page.

Industry Canada (2020). Financial Performance Data, 2019 reference year: Canada, All Businesses, NAICS 722511 - Full Service Restaurants [Data file]. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/pp-pp.nsf/eng/home

5.6: NAICS Canada Manual (Statistics Canada)

Statistics Canada (2017). North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017 Version 3.0: classification structure - 312130 - Wineries.  https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/subjects/standard/naics/2017/v3/index