How to Cite a Report in APA 7th Edition

Reports are among the most frequently cited sources in the social sciences, public policy, and health research. Government agencies, think tanks, universities, and international organizations publish thousands of reports each year, and researchers rely on them for data, recommendations, and policy analysis that may never appear in peer-reviewed journals. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) covers reports and gray literature in Section 10.5, providing templates for government reports, technical reports, white papers, and organizational publications. This guide walks through the official template, eight worked examples, special cases, common mistakes, and a quick-reference table so you can format any report citation with confidence.

If you want to skip the manual formatting, you can use the AllCitations APA 7 generator to build a correctly formatted reference in seconds. For guidance on citing other source types, see our guide on How to Cite a Book in APA 7th Edition.

The Official APA Rule

According to Section 10.5 of the APA Publication Manual (7th ed.), the standard reference format for a report is:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of report (Report No. xxx). Publisher. URL

When a government agency or organization is the author, the format becomes:

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report. URL

Several important principles govern this template:

• Author can be one or more individuals, a government agency, or an organization. When an organization is both the author and the publisher, do not repeat the organization name in the publisher position — in APA 7th edition, the publisher is simply omitted when it would duplicate the author (Section 10.5).
• Year is the year the report was published or released. If only a month and year are available (common with government reports), use the year alone in the reference.
• Title is italicized and written in sentence case: capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns.
• Report number is included in parentheses after the title when the issuing organization assigns one (e.g., Report No. 2024-1038). Not all reports have report numbers; include one only if it is printed on the report itself.
• Publisher is the entity that published the report, if it differs from the author. When the author is a government agency or organization that also published the report, omit the publisher.
• DOI or URL should be included at the end of the reference when available. Use a DOI if one exists; otherwise, provide the direct URL. Do not place a period after a DOI or URL.

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Worked Examples

Below are eight worked examples covering the most common report citation scenarios. Each example includes both the reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citations.

1. Government Agency Report

Government reports are one of the most common report types in academic writing. The agency serves as the group author.

Reference entry:

World Health Organization. (2022). World mental health report: Transforming mental health for all. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338

Because the World Health Organization is both the author and the publisher, the publisher is omitted.

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (WHO, 2022)
• Narrative: The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) called for a fundamental shift in how countries fund and deliver mental health services.

2. Technical Report with a Report Number

Many technical reports carry an official report number assigned by the issuing body. Include this number in parentheses after the title.

Reference entry:

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2018). Framework for improving critical infrastructure cybersecurity (Version 1.1). https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.CSWP.04162018

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST], 2018)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (NIST, 2018)
• Narrative: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, 2018) updated its cybersecurity framework to address emerging threats.

3. Report from a University or Research Institute

When a university center or research institute publishes a report, the center or institute is typically the group author.

Reference entry:

Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality. (2021). State of the union 2021: The poverty and inequality report. https://inequality.stanford.edu/publications/state-union-2021

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2021)
• Narrative: The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality (2021) tracked disparities in employment, health, and education outcomes.

4. Report by Individual Authors for an Organization

When individual authors are named on the report, list them in the author position and identify the publishing organization in the publisher position.

Reference entry:

Baicker, K., & Chandra, A. (2020). Health care spending growth and the future of U.S. tax rates (NBER Working Paper No. 27900). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w27900

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Baicker & Chandra, 2020)
• Narrative: Baicker and Chandra (2020) projected long-term fiscal implications of rising health care expenditures.

5. White Paper

White papers follow the same general report format. Use the term "white paper" in the description only if it appears on the document itself; otherwise, treat it as a standard report.

Reference entry:

Deloitte. (2023). The future of work: Generative AI and the labor market. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/future-of-work-generative-ai.html

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical: (Deloitte, 2023)
• Narrative: Deloitte (2023) examined how generative AI technologies are expected to reshape workforce demand across industries.

6. Annual Report

Annual reports from organizations and government bodies are cited using the same report format. Include the fiscal year or reporting period in the title if it appears on the document.

Reference entry:

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2023). Agency financial report: Fiscal year 2023. https://www.sec.gov/about/reports/sec-agency-financial-report-2023

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], 2023)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (SEC, 2023)
• Narrative: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, 2023) reported on its enforcement actions and financial position.

7. Report with No Individual Author (Organization as Author)

When no individual authors are listed, use the organization or agency name as the author. This is the most common pattern for government and institutional reports.

Reference entry:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2024. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/antimicrobial-resistance/data-research/threats/index.html

Here the publishing parent agency (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) differs from the authoring agency (CDC), so both are included.

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) identified urgent and serious antimicrobial resistance threats.

8. Report with a DOI

Some reports, particularly those from research organizations, are assigned a DOI. When a DOI is available, always include it instead of a URL.

Reference entry:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). Education at a glance 2023: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/e13bef63-en

In-text citations:

• Parenthetical, first use: (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2023)
• Parenthetical, subsequent uses: (OECD, 2023)
• Narrative: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2023) compared educational attainment and spending across member countries.

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Special Cases

Internal or Unpublished Reports

When citing an internal report that has not been publicly released, include a description in square brackets after the title: Title of report [Unpublished report]. Provide the name of the organization that produced the report in the publisher position. Do not include a URL if the document is not publicly accessible.

Reports with Multiple Organizations as Publishers

When two or more organizations co-publish a report, list all organizations in the publisher position, separated by semicolons. If all organizations also appear in the author position, omit the publisher position entirely to avoid duplication.

Archived or Historical Reports

For reports accessed through a government archive or digital repository, include the URL of the archived version. If the original publication date differs from the archive date, use the original publication date in the reference. Add a retrieval date only if the content is likely to change over time (Section 9.16), which is rare for archived reports.

Reports with Supplemental Data

When a report includes separate appendices, data files, or supplemental materials, cite the main report. If you are citing only the supplemental material, describe it in square brackets after the title: Title of supplemental material [Data set]. Provide the URL that leads directly to the supplemental file.

Policy Briefs vs. Reports

Policy briefs are generally shorter, targeted summaries of research findings intended for policymakers. In APA 7, they follow the same format as reports. Include "[Policy brief]" in square brackets after the title if the document identifies itself as a policy brief and the format would not otherwise be clear from the title.

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Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Omitting the report number. If a report has an official report number, working paper number, or contract number printed on its cover page or title page, you must include it in parentheses after the title. The report number helps readers locate the exact document, especially when an organization publishes many reports with similar titles. Check the cover page, title page, and header of the document for any identifying number.

Using the wrong author position for government agencies. A common error is listing a broad department (e.g., "U.S. Department of Health and Human Services") as the author when the report was actually produced by a specific sub-agency (e.g., "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention"). Use the most specific agency that is credited as the author on the report itself. The parent agency, if different, goes in the publisher position.

Confusing reports with books. Reports and books follow different templates in APA 7. Reports often include report numbers, are published by organizations rather than commercial publishers, and are covered by Section 10.5 rather than Section 10.2. If a document has an ISBN and was released by a commercial publisher, treat it as a book. If it was issued by a government agency, research institute, or organization and carries a report number, treat it as a report.

Including unnecessary database information. When you access a report through a database (such as ERIC or NTIS), do not include the database name or a database-specific URL. Instead, use the DOI if one exists, or the URL of the report on the issuing organization's website. Database URLs are not stable and should not be included in references (Section 9.30).

Incorrect abbreviation of organization names in in-text citations. On first use, spell out the full name of the organization and provide the abbreviation in brackets: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2022). In all subsequent citations, use only the abbreviation: (WHO, 2022). Do not abbreviate an organization name if the abbreviation would not be familiar to your readers or if the organization appears only once in your paper.

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Quick-Reference Table

The following table summarizes the key report citation variations at a glance:

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