How to Cite a Government Document in APA 7th Edition

Government documents are some of the most valuable and most frequently miscited sources in academic writing. Federal agencies, congressional offices, state governments, and international bodies publish reports, data sets, fact sheets, and policy analyses that researchers across the social sciences, public health, education, and law rely on daily. The challenge is that government documents do not fit neatly into a single APA category. Depending on what the document is, you may need the report format from Section 10.5, the webpage format from Section 10.16, or even the legal reference format from Chapter 11 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).

This guide covers the most common types of government documents you will encounter in academic research, with eight worked examples, special cases, common mistakes, and a quick-reference table. If you want to skip the manual formatting, you can paste any URL into the AllCitations APA 7 generator and get a correctly formatted reference in seconds. For related guidance, see our posts on citing a report in APA 7 and citing a website in APA 7.

Choosing the Right APA Format

The first step in citing a government document is identifying what type of source it is. APA 7 does not have a single "government document" category. Instead, you select the template that matches the document's form:

• Government report or technical report (Section 10.5): Formal publications with a title page, often carrying a report number or publication number. Examples include GAO reports, CDC surveillance summaries, and Census Bureau publications.
• Government webpage (Section 10.16): Informational pages on government websites that do not function as standalone reports. Examples include agency fact sheets, FAQ pages, and program descriptions.
• Legislation, court cases, and regulations (Chapter 11): Legal materials follow a completely different format based on legal citation conventions. These are not covered in this guide - consult the Bluebook or Chapter 11 of the APA Manual for statutes, regulations, and case law.
• Data sets (Section 10.9): Government-published data files and statistical tables have their own format.

If you are unsure which category your source fits, ask yourself: "Is this a formal, self-contained publication with a title page and structure, or is it informational content on a website?" Reports get the Section 10.5 treatment. Web content gets the Section 10.16 treatment.

---

The Official APA Rules

For Government Reports (Section 10.5)

Government Agency. (Year). Title of report (Publication No. xxx). URL

Key principles:

• Author is the most specific government agency responsible for the document. Use the sub-agency, not the parent department, when the sub-agency is credited as the author (e.g., "Bureau of Labor Statistics," not "U.S. Department of Labor").
• Year is the publication year printed on the document.
• Title is italicized and in sentence case.
• Publication or report number is included in parentheses after the title when one is printed on the document. Government reports frequently carry publication numbers, catalog numbers, or report numbers.
• Publisher is omitted when the authoring agency is also the publisher. When a sub-agency is the author and a parent department is the publisher, include the parent department in the publisher position.
• URL is the direct link to the document. Do not place a period after the URL.

For Government Webpages (Section 10.16)

Government Agency. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Parent Site Name. URL

Key principles:

• Site name is included when it differs from the author. If the agency name and the site name are identical, omit the site name (Section 9.28).
• Date should be as specific as the source provides - full date, month and year, or year only.
• All other rules follow the standard webpage format. See our guide to citing a website in APA 7 for the complete breakdown.

---

Worked Examples

Below are eight worked examples covering the most common government document scenarios. Each includes the reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citations.

1. Federal Agency Report

The most common government citation in academic writing. The agency that authored the report serves as the group author.

Reference entry:

U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2024). K-12 education: Department of Education should help states address significant quality issues with school spending data (GAO-24-105345). https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105345

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (U.S. Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2024)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (GAO, 2024)
• Narrative: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO, 2024) found that the Department of Education had not taken adequate steps to ensure data quality.

Notice that the GAO report number is included after the title because it appears on the document itself. The publisher is omitted because the GAO is both author and publisher.

2. Sub-Agency Report with Parent Department as Publisher

When a sub-agency produces the report but the parent department is the broader publishing entity, both must appear. This distinction matters - use the most specific agency credited on the document as the author.

Reference entry:

National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Digest of education statistics, 2023 (NCES 2024-009). U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2023)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (NCES, 2023)
• Narrative: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2023) compiled data on enrollment, degrees, and institutional finances across all levels of education.

Here, NCES is the author and the U.S. Department of Education is the publisher, because they are different entities.

3. Congressional Research Service Report

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are frequently cited in political science and public policy research. Individual analysts are often named as authors.

Reference entry:

Sargent, J. F., Jr. (2024). Federal research and development (R&D) funding: FY2025 (CRS Report R47564). Congressional Research Service. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47564

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Sargent, 2024)
• Narrative: Sargent (2024) analyzed trends in federal R&D appropriations across agencies and disciplines.

Because an individual author is named on the report, the author's name goes in the author position and the Congressional Research Service goes in the publisher position.

4. Congressional Budget Office Report

CBO reports typically list the organization as author rather than individual analysts.

Reference entry:

Congressional Budget Office. (2024). The budget and economic outlook: 2024 to 2034. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59710

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (Congressional Budget Office [CBO], 2024)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (CBO, 2024)
• Narrative: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2024) projected that federal debt held by the public would reach 116% of GDP by 2034.

5. Executive Order

Executive orders are presidential directives that carry the force of law. APA treats them as government reports rather than legal references, unless you are writing a legal paper that follows Bluebook conventions.

Reference entry:

Executive Order No. 14110, 88 Fed. Reg. 75191 (2023). https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-24283

This follows the legal reference format from APA Section 11.7. The title of the executive order is omitted in the reference when citing by number, but you may include it in your text for clarity.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Exec. Order No. 14110, 2023)
• Narrative: Executive Order No. 14110 (2023) established new standards for the safe development and use of artificial intelligence.

6. State Government Report

State government documents follow the same format as federal reports. Use the full official name of the state agency.

Reference entry:

California Department of Education. (2024). 2023-24 accountability report: Performance indicators and standards. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/accountabilityreport.asp

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (California Department of Education, 2024)
• Narrative: The California Department of Education (2024) reported on school performance across multiple indicators.

For state agencies, spell out the full name including the state. Abbreviations may be introduced on first use if the agency appears multiple times.

7. Government Webpage (Non-Report)

Many government sources are not formal reports but informational pages on agency websites. These follow the webpage format from Section 10.16.

Reference entry:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, October 15). About lead poisoning. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/lead-poisoning/about/index.html

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2024)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (CDC, 2024)
• Narrative: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2024) outlined the primary sources of lead exposure in children.

This is a webpage, not a report, so it uses the Section 10.16 format. The date is as specific as the page provides. The CDC is the author, and the parent department (HHS) is the site name.

8. International Government Organization Report

Reports from international bodies like the United Nations, World Bank, or OECD follow the same report format. Use the English name of the organization.

Reference entry:

United Nations Development Programme. (2024). Human development report 2023-24: Breaking the gridlock - Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world. https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2023-24

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2024)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (UNDP, 2024)
• Narrative: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2024) argued that rising polarization is undermining multilateral cooperation on shared challenges.

---

Special Cases

Multiple Agencies as Co-Authors

When two or more agencies co-author a document, list all agencies in the author position, separated by commas, with an ampersand (&) before the last one. If both agencies are also the publishers, omit the publisher.

National Institutes of Health & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Title of joint report. URL

In-text, list all group authors on first use. If the citation becomes unwieldy, you may establish a combined abbreviation: (NIH & CDC, 2023).

Government Documents with No Date

Some government pages and older publications do not display a publication date. Use (n.d.) for "no date," just as you would for any other undated source. Government archives and historical documents are common cases.

Bureau of Indian Affairs. (n.d.). Frequently asked questions. U.S. Department of the Interior. https://www.bia.gov/frequently-asked-questions

Government Data Sets and Statistics

Government-published data sets follow Section 10.9. Include the format descriptor [Data set] in square brackets after the title.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). American Community Survey 1-year estimates [Data set]. https://data.census.gov/

In-text: (U.S. Census Bureau, 2024)

Documents Available Only in Print

For government documents accessed in print (e.g., from a government depository library), omit the URL and include only the standard reference elements. If the document has a Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) number, you may include it in parentheses after the title as a locator, though APA does not specifically require it.

Archived Government Documents

If you accessed a government document through the Internet Archive or a government digital archive because the original URL is no longer active, use the archived URL. Include the original publication date, not the date it was archived.

---

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Using the parent department instead of the specific agency. This is the single most common mistake with government citations. If a report is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the author is the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not the U.S. Department of Labor. The parent department goes in the publisher position only if it differs from the author. Check the cover page or title page of the document to see which entity is actually credited.

Omitting the publication or report number. Government reports frequently carry identifying numbers (e.g., GAO-24-105345, NCES 2024-009, CRS Report R47564). These numbers appear on the cover page, title page, or header. If the document has one, include it in parentheses after the title. It helps readers locate the exact document, especially when an agency publishes dozens of reports per year with similar titles.

Confusing government webpages with government reports. An agency fact sheet, FAQ page, or program overview is a webpage (Section 10.16), not a report (Section 10.5). A formal publication with a title page, executive summary, and structured sections is a report. The distinction matters because reports may include report numbers and follow a slightly different template. When in doubt, ask: "Does this look like a published document, or does it look like a page on a website?"

Abbreviating agency names in the reference list. The reference list entry must always spell out the full name of the agency. Never write "CDC" or "GAO" in the author position of the reference list. Abbreviations are used only in in-text citations, and only after the full name has been introduced on first use.

Adding "Retrieved from" before the URL. APA 7th edition does not use "Retrieved from" for most sources. Include a retrieval date only when the content is designed to change over time, such as a regularly updated dashboard or a wiki page (Section 9.16). Most government reports and webpages do not require a retrieval date.

Placing a period after the URL. Do not end a reference with a period after the URL or DOI (Section 9.35). A trailing period can be interpreted as part of the URL and break the link. The URL is always the last element, with nothing after it.

For a deeper dive into in-text citation rules, including how to handle group authors, secondary sources, and abbreviations, see our Complete Guide to In-Text Citations.

---

Quick-Reference Table

---

Tools and Resources

Building your reference list does not have to be a manual process. Here are some resources to help:

• AllCitations APA 7 Generator: Paste a URL and generate a formatted APA 7 reference instantly. You can export citations as BibTeX or RIS for use in Zotero, Mendeley, or other reference managers.
• Purdue OWL APA Formatting Guide: The Purdue Online Writing Lab offers clear summaries of APA formatting rules, including guidance on government and organizational sources.
• APA Style Blog: The official blog from the American Psychological Association, with posts clarifying tricky citation scenarios.

You can explore all the citation styles supported by AllCitations on our citation styles page.

---