Why referencing matters and when you must cite
Referencing shows where your ideas and evidence come from. It lets a reader check your sources, gives credit to the people whose work you used, and protects you from accusations of plagiarism. Markers also treat accurate referencing as a sign of careful work.
| Cite this | You do not need to cite |
|---|---|
| Direct quotations | Your own analysis, conclusions and calculations |
| Paraphrased ideas, arguments or findings from a source | Common knowledge that is widely known and not disputed |
| Statistics, data and figures | Facts you gathered yourself through your own research, though you describe the method |
| Tables, charts and images you reproduce or adapt | |
| Theories, models and frameworks |
When in doubt, cite. It is better to over-cite than to risk using someone else's idea without credit.
Two styles, one logic
Both Harvard and APA are author-date systems. In the text you give the author and year, and at the end you list full details alphabetically. The difference lies in punctuation and layout. Harvard has no single official version, so follow your institution's guide. Many universities use a version based on Cite Them Right. APA is published by the American Psychological Association and the current edition is the seventh. Always check which your course requires, and follow your instructor's guide if it differs from what is shown here.
| Feature | APA 7th edition | Harvard (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| One author, in text | (Smith, 2023) | (Smith 2023) |
| Two authors | (Smith & Jones, 2023) | (Smith and Jones 2023) |
| Three or more authors | (Smith et al., 2023) | (Smith et al. 2023) |
| Direct quote with page | (Smith, 2023, p. 14) | (Smith 2023, p. 14) |
| Narrative form | Smith (2023) argues that | Smith (2023) argues that |
| Reference list title | References | Reference list or Bibliography |
| Journal article volume and issue | 12(3), 45-67 | 12(3), pp. 45-67 |
| Edition | (2nd ed.) | 2nd edn. |
Reference list entries for common business sources
The patterns below show the elements in order. Replace the placeholders with your source's details. Titles of books and journals are in italics in both styles. Entries are in alphabetical order by author, with a hanging indent.
| Source | APA 7th edition | Harvard (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Book | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case (2nd ed.). Publisher. | Author, A.A. (Year) Title of book. 2nd edn. Place: Publisher. |
| Journal article | Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Name in Title Case, 12(3), 45-67. https://doi.org/xxxx | Author, A.A. and Author, B.B. (Year) 'Title of article', Journal Name, 12(3), pp. 45-67. doi: xxxx. |
| Company annual report | Company Name. (Year). Annual report year. URL | Company Name (Year) Annual report year. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). |
| Industry or market report | Organization Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. if given). Publisher if different. URL | Organization Name (Year) Title of report. Place: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). |
| Web page or news article | Author or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL | Author or Organization (Year) 'Title of page', Site Name, Day Month. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). |
| Case study | Author, A. A. (Year). Title of case (Case No. 000-000). Publisher. URL | Author, A.A. (Year) Title of case. Case no. 000-000. Place: Publisher. |
| Government or statistics data | Agency Name. (Year). Title of dataset or table [Data set]. URL | Agency Name (Year) Title of dataset. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). |
Where the author and the publisher are the same organization, such as a company publishing its own annual report, APA omits the publisher and Harvard guides vary, so follow yours. If a source has no date, write n.d. in place of the year.
Two filled-in entries (hypothetical sources)
APA: Okafor, D., & Lindqvist, S. (2024). Customer retention in subscription retail. Journal of Retail Strategy, 18(2), 112-130. https://doi.org/10.0000/example
Harvard: Okafor, D. and Lindqvist, S. (2024) 'Customer retention in subscription retail', Journal of Retail Strategy, 18(2), pp. 112-130. doi: 10.0000/example.
Referencing the sources business students actually use
- Annual reports and regulatory filings. Cite the company as author. Include the year the report covers and a URL to the document. If you use a figure from a specific page, add the page number in the text.
- Industry and market reports. Often paywalled. Cite the publisher and the title exactly as shown. If you access it through a university database, cite the report, not the database.
- Company websites. Cite the organization as author. Websites change, so record the date you accessed it if your style requires.
- Cases. Cite the case authors, year, title, case number and publisher. If the case is in your coursepack or learning platform, include the details your instructor provides.
- Interviews you conducted. Most styles treat these as personal communications cited in the text only (for example: J. Rivera, personal communication, 4 May 2025) and not in the list. Check your guide.
- Secondary citations. If you read about a theory in a textbook but did not read the original, cite the one you read: (Porter, 1980, as cited in Smith, 2023). Add only Smith to the reference list.
- Your own earlier work. Check your institution's rules on self-citation.
In-text citation scenarios
Beyond the basic one-author case, you will meet situations that confuse most students. Here is how each style handles them. Where your guide differs, follow your guide.
| Scenario | APA 7th edition | Harvard (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Two sources supporting one point | (Jones, 2022; Smith, 2023), in alphabetical order | (Jones 2022; Smith 2023) |
| Two works by the same author in the same year | (Smith, 2023a, 2023b), with a and b added in the list too | (Smith 2023a, 2023b) |
| An organization as author, with an abbreviation | First use: (World Trade Organization [WTO], 2023). Then: (WTO, 2023) | First use: (World Trade Organization (WTO) 2023). Then: (WTO 2023) |
| No author | Use the title in italics or quotation marks in place of the author, then the year | Use the title or the publishing body in place of the author |
| No date | (Smith, n.d.) | (Smith n.d.) |
| Specific page or section | (Smith, 2023, p. 14) or (Smith, 2023, Section 3) | (Smith 2023, p. 14) |
| A long quotation | Over 40 words: block quote, indented, without quotation marks, citation after the final punctuation | Often over 30 words or three lines: block quote, indented; follow your guide's threshold |
| A source cited in another source | (Porter, 1980, as cited in Smith, 2023) | (Porter 1980, cited in Smith 2023) |
When in doubt, include more detail rather than less. A reader should always be able to move from your in-text citation to the right entry in the list in a few seconds.
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Get an instant quoteCiting tables, charts and data you reuse
If you reproduce or adapt a table or chart from a source, you need to credit it in two places: in the caption and in the reference list. If you only use the underlying numbers to draw your own chart, say so in a note, such as Data from Smith (2023), and cite the source in the list.
- Reproduced exactly: add a note under the figure, such as Note. Reproduced from Smith (2023, p. 14), and list the source. Some institutions require permission for published material beyond coursework, so check.
- Adapted: add Adapted from Smith (2023) and describe what you changed if it is significant.
- Your own calculations from a dataset: cite the dataset and describe your method, and make clear which numbers are yours.
- Screenshots and company images: treat them as sources. Cite the company and the page they came from.
Quoting and paraphrasing correctly
Most citations in a business paper should be paraphrases: the idea in your own words and your own sentence structure, with a citation. Use direct quotes only when the exact wording matters, such as a definition or a distinctive claim, and keep them short with quotation marks and a page number.
Paraphrase versus patchwriting
Original: Firms that integrate sustainability into their core strategy tend to outperform firms that treat it as a peripheral activity over the long term.
Patchwriting (not acceptable): Companies that integrate sustainability into their core strategy often outperform firms that treat it as a peripheral activity in the long run (Smith, 2023).
Proper paraphrase: Smith (2023) found that long-term results were better for companies that built sustainability into how they compete than for those that handled it as a side project.
Patchwriting means swapping a few words while keeping the original's structure. It is treated as plagiarism even when cited. To paraphrase well, read the passage, close the source, write the idea from memory, and then check that you captured the meaning and did not copy the sentence shape.
A workflow that prevents mistakes
- Record details as you read. Capture author, year, title, publisher or journal, volume, pages and URL at the moment you find a source.
- Cite as you write. Add the in-text citation immediately when you use a source, rather than planning to do it later.
- Use a tool carefully. Reference managers save time, but they make errors in capitalization and source types, so check the output against your style guide.
- Build the list last and cross-check. Every in-text citation should appear in the list, and every entry in the list should be cited in the text.
- Apply formatting. Alphabetize, apply hanging indents and use the same style throughout.
Common referencing errors
- Mixing styles Do not combine APA and Harvard conventions. Pick one and apply it throughout.
- Missing entries Every in-text citation needs a matching reference list entry and vice versa.
- Wrong capitalization APA uses sentence case for titles of books and articles; Harvard varies by guide. Check the required version.
- Citing the database instead of the source Cite the article or report, not the library platform you accessed it through.
- Unreliable sources Prefer peer-reviewed research, official statistics, company filings and recognized industry bodies over anonymous blogs.
- Cite only at the end of a paragraph Cite each claim that depends on a source, so the reader knows which ideas come from where.
- Copying URLs without checking Make sure links work and are not session-specific.
Checklist before you submit
- Have you used the style your course requires, with no mixing?
- Does every in-text citation match a reference entry, and vice versa?
- Is the list in alphabetical order with consistent formatting?
- Are quotations short, in quotation marks and carry page numbers?
- Have you paraphrased properly instead of patchwriting?
- Are your business sources, such as reports, filings and cases, cited in the correct format?
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