Answered By: Gabe Gossett
Last Updated: Dec 18, 2019     Views: 194274

For details on how to cite technical reports  and gray literature look under section 10.4 in the APA Publication Manual (7th Edition), starting on page 329.

Basic reference list format for a print report

Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of Report (Report No. #). Publisher Name.

Basic reference list format for an online report

Author Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title (Report No. #). DOI or URL

Notes:

  • If there is a name of a person listed as an author, list them as the author for your in-text and reference list citations. When there is not author listed use the organization name as a corporate author.
  • If the organization that published the report issued a number be sure to include that in parentheses right after the title.
  • Technical and research reports might not be peer-reviewed. If you require peer-reviewed sources use reports with caution.
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Comments (9)

  1. what do you do if there are multiple authors etc?
    by student on Jun 01, 2016
  2. For multiple authors uses the same convention you would use with other citations. List all of the authors by last name and initials using an & symbol.

    For example: Ramirez, Z. A., Jones, B. C., & Smith, D. C.

    If no people are listed as authors use the organization as author.
    by Gabe Gossett on Jun 02, 2016
  3. How do I cite a research paper with no authors but to organizing parties? There are over one hundred authors.
    by Unclear on Aug 30, 2016
  4. If you have a source with seven or more authors you list the first six followed by an ellipses (...) and the last author.

    Like this (the formatting in this example is off):

    Lein, E. S., Hawrylycz, M. J., Ao, N., Ayres, M., Bensinger, A.,
    Bernard, A., . . . Jones, A. R. (2007). Genome-wide
    atlas of gene expression in the adult mouse brain. Nature, 445
    (7124), 168-176. doi:10.1038/nature05453

    Note: The first six authors are listed; all subsequent authors except the last are omitted and replaced with an ellipsis; then list name of the last author.

    In-text example: (Lein et al., 2007)

    As for an example using two organizing parties in addition to the 100+ authors, I'm not sure I understand. If you want more assistance, you can use the chat option (http://askus.library.wwu.edu/) to get direct help. More APA citation examples can be found here: http://libguides.wwu.edu/ld.php?content_id=18901398.
    by Elizabeth Stephan on Aug 30, 2016
  5. How about a direct quote? I'm inclined to treat it like a journal- eg (Blah, Blah & Blah, 2020, p.2). ???
    by Sandy on Feb 28, 2020
  6. What about a thesis/ research paper available online as pdf? Should I then include the URL?
    by Marshia Khan on Jan 24, 2021
  7. @Marshia: Yes, if you have a URL for a source that is open access (someone using the URL would not need to log into a subscription service) always make sure to include that.
    by Gabe on Jan 25, 2021
  8. How to cite an article without publishing journal?
    by harsha on Mar 23, 2021
  9. @harsha: When information for a citation component does not exist you omit that part and may describe the source in square brackets. Table 9.1 on page 284 of the Manual is helpful for examples, if you have a copy on hand.
    by Gabe Gossett on Mar 30, 2021

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