How do I cite information I found using a Mergent database (Online, Intellect, or First Research) in APA-style?

Answer

APA references are always put together with the same pieces of information, and in a certain order:

Author. Date. Title. Access Information.

However, much of the information found within Mergent databases (Mergent Online, Mergent Intellect, and First Research) can be difficult to cite because it may fall into a gray area; for example, in the Mergent databases, it can be difficult to determine an author, date of publication, and even the title of what you are looking at.

Reports or forms (like a 10-K or Annual Report, and all SEC documents) filed by the company, are fairly simple to cite. Visit this answer for citing Annual Reports and/or 10-Ks.

For other information, not written by a company or individual, you can typically assume that Mergent, Inc. is the author, since Mergent creates and compiles custom content. A typical citation for information found in a Mergent database appears below (with the Retrieved from URL varying depending upon the database used):

Mergent, Inc. (date, or n.d. for no date). Title. www.mergentonline.com OR www.mergentintellect.com

Note: When contents of a page are designed to change over time but are not archived, include a retrieval date in the reference. Below are two citation examples; the first is from Mergent Online and the second is from Mergent Intellect -- note that the titles are circled in the screenshots in red, to show how to "build" a title.

Mergent Online Citation:

Mergent, Inc. (n.d.). Apple company details: Synopsis. Retrieved February 15, 2019, from www.mergentonline.com

Mergent Intellect Citation:

Mergent, Inc. (n.d.). Amazon company details: Company brief. Retrieved February 15, 2019, from www.mergentintellect.com

Mergent Intellect Amazon page exemplifying the process for building a title.

In-Text Citation:

The in-text citation should include author, date, and possibly page or paragraph number for a direct quotation; for example, (Mergent, Inc., n.d., para. 2). Are you citing two or more pages of content from the Mergent database, with the same date? If so, check out our answer on two sources with the same author and date.

Help:

If you need additional help citing information retrieved from the Mergent databases, please submit a question to Rasmussen's Ask a Librarian service.

Need more information on using Mergent databases? Check out these videos:

  • Last Updated Oct 09, 2023
  • Views 17119
  • Answered By Kate Anderson, Librarian

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