Citelle · Library

APA 7: cite a report

Reference a numbered report with an individual author in APA 7, placing Report No. 17 after the title and the issuing body as publisher.

A report stands on its own

A report is a publication in its own right, not part of a journal or a book. Collect the responsible author, the title, the year, the organization that issued it and any report number printed on the cover or the documentation page. In technical reports the sponsor, the organization that did the work and the publisher can be three different bodies; only the issuing organization goes in the publisher position here.

With the number in place, the report's APA entry looks like this: Stone, M. (2024). A sample report (Report No. 17). Example Institute. The report title is italicized, and the number follows in parentheses outside the italics.

Telling the workbench about the number

Choose APA 7 reference and Report with individual authors, then Print version.
Enter Maya Stone, A sample report and the year 2024.
Type Example Institute as Publisher; the Awarding or responsible institution field can hold the same name.
Under Report-number availability choose A report number is supplied and type 17 in Report number.
Press Create reference. If you leave Report-number availability on Not yet checked, which is the setting after Clear source and result, the entry is held until you decide.

Reports without a number

If you checked the report and it has no number, choose The source has no assigned report number and leave the number field empty. The workbench then returns the entry without the parentheses. Choosing that option while 17 is still in the field is treated as a contradiction and shows Report-number availability: review this source detail. Sponsor and performer roles and reports with several numbers are outside this version of the workbench.

Reports in the Citelle app

The app's Report type has fields for Publisher, City, Edition and University / institution. Its edit screen has no separate report-number field; a number appears in the APA entry only when it came with the looked-up record. When an institution is filled in for a report, the app's APA entry shows the institution in the publisher position. Check the preview against the report's cover before you copy the citation.

Report details that get mixed up

Listing the funding body as the author or the publisher.
Reading a series or issue number from a journal as the report number.
Letting a database or distributor replace the organization that issued the report.
Typing Report No. 17 into the title field so that it ends up in italics.

Gather the source details

Inspect the report’s title and publication pages.
Record an actual individual or organizational author.
Keep any supplied report number with the source.
Verify which organization published the work and which version you read.

Author: Maya Stone
Title as supplied: A sample report
Publication year: 2024
Publisher: Example Institute
Awarding or responsible institution: Example Institute
Report number: 17
Publication place: London