Report Citation Generator

How to Use the Report Citation Generator

1. 1. Find the title page. The report's cover or first page shows the title, the authors or the organization, the publisher, the year and any report number.
2. 2. Enter the author. Type one or more people, or an organization's name as the title page gives it. If no person is named, the organization is the author.
3. 3. Enter the title, the publisher and the year. Use sentence case for the title. Put the publisher in Publisher / Site. In APA, an author that is also the publisher is not repeated.
4. 4. Add the link. Paste the URL of the report's page or PDF. Leave it empty for a print copy.
5. 5. Pick a style and copy. Choose APA, MLA, Chicago or any of the 10,834 styles.

Report, Press Release, Standard or Annual Report?

These sources look alike and are cited differently. A report is a stand-alone document that an organization publishes as its own work. If what you hold is something else, switch tools.

APA 7 (§10.4) gives the author, the year only, the title in italics, an optional report number in parentheses, and the publisher. When a group author is also the publisher, the publisher is left out. MLA 9 gives the author, the title in italics, the publisher, the date and the URL, and begins with the title when the organization is both author and publisher. Chicago 18 names the author, the title in italics, and the publisher and year in parentheses in a note, with the report number after the title.

Report Citation Examples

The Pew Research Center's report Social Media Use in 2021, by Brooke Auxier and Monica Anderson, published April 7, 2021.

A report with a group author, using the APA Style handout's World Health Organization example. The organization is the author and the publisher, so APA does not repeat it.

What the Generator Gives You

With the Pew details, the generator returns the APA, MLA and Chicago lines above; it prints MLA's full date and leaves Chicago with the year. Group names are recognized by words such as Organization, Institute or Center; a group such as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has none and is inverted into an initialed name, so check the author. A report number typed into Format / medium prints as [Report No. 123] in APA, which wants it in parentheses after the title, so change the brackets. A group author that is also the publisher is repeated in APA, so delete the second.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite a report in APA 7?

Give the author, the year, the title in italics and the publisher: Auxier, B., & Anderson, M. (2021). Social media use in 2021. Pew Research Center. URL. Add a report number in parentheses after the title, such as (Report No. 123). If the organization is both author and publisher, give it once as the author.

How do I cite a report in MLA 9?

Give the author, the title in italics, the publisher, the date and the URL: Auxier, Brooke, and Monica Anderson. Social Media Use in 2021. Pew Research Center, 7 Apr. 2021, URL. When the author and the publisher are the same organization, begin with the title.

How do I cite a government report?

Use the agency as the author, unless named people wrote it. Name the department as the publisher when it differs from the author. In APA, give a report number if it has one.

What if the report has no author or date?

Use the organization as the author, and APA's n.d. for the date. If no organization is named, move the title to the front. In MLA, leave the date out.

How do I cite a report with a corporate author?

Give the company's name as the author as it appears on the cover. If the company is also the publisher, do not repeat it in APA.

Which citation styles does the report generator support?

All 10,834 styles in the library, including APA 7, MLA 9 and Chicago 18. The source type is preset to Report.