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27 Referencing Reports

Learning Objectives

This chapter demonstrates how to reference reports.

  • Referencing company information from the internet
  • Referencing data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS)
  • Referencing a company report from IBISWorld
  • Referencing an industry report from IBISWorld
  • Referencing a government report

You will frequently use company reports, industry reports, and data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to justify your business decisions. A large amount of your data about a company or industry will be freely available online.

Referencing company information from the internet

Most company information will be freely available on the internet, including company financial reports, director information, and shareholder price.

Reference list format:

Author YEAR, Title of page/document in italics, Sponsor or source (if different to the author), viewed date, <URL>.

Example:

Woolworths 2020, Creating better experiences together: 2020 annual report, viewed 9 June 2021, <https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/icms_docs/195794_annual-report-2020.pdf>.

The author will frequently be the same as the source website. i.e. Reports authored by Samsung are published on the Samsung website. In these cases, you record the organisation as the author and omit the source information.

 

Referencing data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS)

Data obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics can be referenced in the same way as a webpage/document from the internet.

Reference list format:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Title of the page in italics, viewed date, <URL>.

Example:

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, 2016 census quickstats Parramatta, viewed 9th June 2021, <https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/CED135?opendocument>.

Include the URL when the document is freely available and your reader is able to use that URL to locate the resource.

 

Referencing a company report from IBISWorld

IBISWorld is a paid subscription database that is provided by the WSU library. It compiles accurate, unbiased, and reliable company information and industry reports on all Australian companies that are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It is recommended that you use IBISWorld reports in your company analysis.

Reference list format:

IBISWorld YEAR, Title in italics, report type, viewed date, database name.

Example:

IBISWorld 2020, Wesfarmers Limited,  company report, viewed 9 June 2021, IBISWorld database.

When a document is available via subscription (behind a paywall), you include the database name instead of the URL.

 

Referencing an industry report from IBISWorld

IBISWorld also provides industry analysis reports. In these cases, there is an analyst as the author of the document that must be cited.

Reference list format:

Author YEAR, Title in italics, report type, viewed date, database name.

Example:

Do, S 2020, Hardware and building supplies retailing in Australia, Australian industry (ANZIC) report G4231, viewed 9 June 2021, IBISWorld database.

Referencing a government report

Government reports provide insight into the political forces that shape your industry. They are generally freely available and follow a specific referencing format.

The in-text citation for a long organisation name can be abbreviated using the format previously discussed in the In-text citation chapter.

Reference list format:

Government Department YEAR, Title of report in italics, viewed date, .

Example:

Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment 2015, Agricultural competitiveness white paper: stronger farmers stronger economy, viewed 9 June 2021, <https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/ag-competitiveness-white-paper_0.pdf>.

You can abbreviate any long names the first time that you cite the resource, and then continue to use the shortened version in subsequent citations.

  • The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (DITRDC 2020) estimates that…
  • ..more than estimated ( Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications [DITRDC] 2020).
  • …as estimated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO 2021).
  • … more than estimated (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [CSIRO] 2021). 
You only use the abbreviation in your in-text citation. Use the full name of the organisation in your reference list.

Chapter Review

  • For reports found freely online, use the style for referencing websites and documents from the internet
  • For reports that are found on a library database, include the database name instead of the hyperlink. The hyperlink is linked to your student ID and will not work for your reader
  • List the government department as the author for government reports if an individual is not listed

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