Annual Report Citation Generator

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Enter the company to see your citations.

How to Use the Annual Report Citation Generator

1. 1. Choose the kind of document. An SEC filing from EDGAR, or an annual report that the company publishes itself.
2. 2. For an SEC filing, pick the form and enter the company, the period the filing covers and the date it was filed. The title is built for you, as in Form 10-K: Annual report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023.
3. 3. For a company's own report, enter the company and the title on the cover, and the year it was published.
4. 4. Paste the link and the date you viewed it. Harvard and MLA print the date; APA and Chicago do not need it.
5. 5. Add a page if you quote. It goes into the in-text citations and the Chicago note. With no date, Harvard writes (no date) and the other styles n.d.

Annual Report or Form 10-K?

They are related but not the same document. The annual report is the company's own publication to shareholders, often a designed PDF with a letter from the chief executive. The Form 10-K is the annual report that US law requires a listed company to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the SEC publishes it free on EDGAR. A company may file its glossy report with the 10-K or write the 10-K separately. Cite the one you actually read, and use EDGAR when you want the full financial statements and risk factors.

None of the style manuals prints an annual-report or SEC-filing example. Each result follows its style's model for a report by an organization, as library business guides apply it, and carries a note saying so. The "Retrieved from SEC EDGAR website" wording you may see in older guides belongs to APA 6; APA 7 names the SEC as the publisher instead.

Annual Report Citation Examples

Apple Inc.'s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023, which the SEC's EDGAR system lists as filed on 3 November 2023. Its date and link are real; the view date is illustrative.

The same filing with a page for a quotation:

A quarterly report, Apple's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 30, 2023, filed 2 February 2024. Choose Form 10-Q and the title changes:

Microsoft's own annual report for 2023, published by the company. Because Microsoft is both author and publisher, MLA drops the author and begins with the title, and APA does not repeat the name as publisher.

A report read in print or as a PDF with no link. The publisher stands in the place of the link in Harvard. Illustrative:

Which Year Do You Cite?

Cite the year the document was published or filed, which is not always the fiscal year. A company with a fiscal year ending in September files in November of the same year. A company whose fiscal year ends in December files in February or March of the next year, so its 2023 10-K is a 2024 document. EDGAR's filing index shows both a filing date and a period of report. Use the filing date for the citation date and the period of report in the title, which is what the tool does. If your instructor wants the fiscal year in the author-date citation, follow your instructor.

Finding What You Need on EDGAR

• Company and form. Search the company on sec.gov, then filter filings by form type: 10-K, 10-Q or 8-K.
• Filing date and period. The filing index page lists both. Use them, not the date on the cover.
• The link. Copy the address of the main document, not the search page. It ends in a file name such as aapl-20230930.htm.
• Page numbers. The online version has no fixed pages; cite a page only if you read a PDF, and otherwise name the Item or note in your sentence.

Common Mistakes

• Making the SEC the author. The company wrote the filing; the SEC publishes it.
• Citing the fiscal year as the publication year. Use the year the document was filed.
• Linking to a search page. Link to the document itself.
• Using "Retrieved from" in APA 7. It belongs to APA 6.
• Assuming every Harvard guide is the same. Variants differ; this one is Cite Them Right.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a 10-K in APA 7?

Put the company as author, the filing year, the form and period in italics, the SEC as publisher and the link: Apple Inc. (2023). Form 10-K: Annual report for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019323000106/aapl-20230930.htm. In text: (Apple Inc., 2023).

How do I cite an SEC filing in MLA 9?

Start with the company, then the italic title, then the SEC as publisher, the full filing date and the link without https://: Apple Inc. Form 10-K: Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2023. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 3 Nov. 2023, www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019323000106/aapl-20230930.htm. In text: (Apple Inc.).

How do I cite a company annual report in Chicago style?

Treat it as a report: the company, the italic title, the publisher and date in parentheses, then the page and link in a note. Chicago 18 no longer needs the place of publication. The bibliography entry begins Apple Inc. with the italic title, then the publisher and the date.

How do I reference an annual report in Harvard style?

In the Cite Them Right variant (13th edition), give the organization and year, the italic title, and for an online report Available at: and the link with (Accessed: date): Microsoft Corporation (2023) Microsoft annual report 2023. Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar23/index.html (Accessed: 1 March 2024). Other universities' Harvard variants differ, so check yours.

Which year do I cite, the fiscal year or the filing year?

The year the document was published or filed. A calendar-year company that files its 2023 10-K in February 2024 is cited as 2024, with the period covered in the title. The filing index on EDGAR shows both dates.

Is the SEC the author or the publisher of a 10-K?

The publisher. The company prepares and signs its filing, so the company is the author, and the SEC publishes it on EDGAR. The exception is a company's own annual report, which the company publishes itself.