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    Business: Find Company & Industry Information

    A guide to our business resources

    Getting Started With Company & Industry Research

    New to industry research? IBISWorld has an overview of industry research and background knowledge to help you get started.

    Company Research

    Company Information in Business Source Complete SWOT

    SWOT analysis gives a summary of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing a company.

    • You can search by company name or browse by industry.

    • Once you locate the company, check the dates in the results list to find the most recent.

    the results list show each report available

    • You can read the report by selecting "PDF Full Text".

    Business Source Complete includes a citation tool like other EBSCO databases and LopeSearch. Database citation tools are automatically generated-- which means that a person doesn't double check them for accuracy. They can have mistakes, and don't always keep up with the latest rules. It is your responsibility to review your citations.

    Always double check a computer created reference against a style guide.

    Especially look for mistakes in capitalization, punctuation, information that shouldn't be included, and missing information.

    Click on the title of the article to access the detailed record, with the tools menu at the top.

    Click the Cite button on the tools menu, which looks like a quotation mark.

    Select the citation style you need from the drop down menu.

    Highlight the reference, then copy and paste it into your paper.

    Don't forget to double check the formatting!

    Company Profiles in Business Market Research/Hoover's Company Profiles

    Hoover's Company Profiles gives general overviews of a company's history and structure.

    • It's best to search by company name in the company name search box.

    there are several search boxes including company name and NAICS code

    • Then locate the correct company and you will be taken to the most recent report.

    Citing Business Market Research/Hoover's Company Profiles

    This database includes a citation tool.

    • Click the Cite button on the tools menu, then copy the citation.

    the cite button is with the download button

    • Remember to check the citation for formatting, as computer generated citations can include mistakes.

    Company Searches in Mergent Market Atlas

    • Mergent's basic search can search by company name or stock symbol.

    the basic start search screen has a search box for company name

    • The search will suggest possible matches.

    search match will suggest possible companies once 3 letters are entered

    • Each company profile includes a number of tabs and subtabs of information.

    each tab has several sub tabs

    • Tabs include:
      • Basic company information such as history and subsidiaries in an overview.
      • Financials including reports.
      • Executives.
      • News.
      • Filings which includes SEC.
    • Financials can be exported as CSV, or you can format the page for printing, or download a PDF of the full company report.

    format for printing and report as pdf are both options

    S earching by NAICS Code or Company Characteristics

    • Want to look at companies that fall into a particular NAICS or SIC code?
    • Browse under Industry Classification .

    the classification search has options for sic, naics, and ICB searches

    • Browse NAICS or SIC to locate the correct code to add to your search.

    Advanced Search

    • Search by criteria when you don't know a company name.
    • Add as many or as few criteria as you want and get a list of matching companies.

    the advanced search has a large number of options across basic criteria, financials, executives, and classification

    • Click "Add Items" to see the full list of data criteria you can work with.
      • Most items will allow you to set both a minimum and maximum value.

    most criteria have multiple options, such as greater or less than

    • Results will link to the company reports.

    Citing from Mergent Market Atlas

    • Cite general Mergent information such a company details as information in a proprietary database with Mergent as the author. Mergent updates daily for material such as stock prices and current details.  

    Format:

    Mergent Market Atlas. (Today's Date). Company name. 

    Example:

    Mergent Market Atlas. (2021, April 7). Apple Inc.

    • Cite financial information, sec filings, and annual reports by the date of the report and with the company as the author.

    Format:

    Company. (Date). Title . Mergent Market Atlas.

    Examples:

    Apple Inc. (2020, September 26). Annual balance sheet . Mergent Market Atlas. 

    Apple Inc. (2019, September 28). Form 10-k annual report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the securities exchange act of 1934 . Mergent Market Atlas. 

    Locating Company Dossiers

    • From the main screen, click Business at the bottom under "Discover topics".

    • Click 'Find a Company' under 'Company Dossier'.

    • Enter the company name.

    the form asks for the company name, type, and web address

    • You may need to narrow down your search with the other fields such as company type.

    company types include public or private or parent

    • The report includes tabs for different types of information.

    tabs include current news company info overview sec filings industry and investment

    • To locate ratings choose 'Investment Research'.

    • Look for Moody's reports

    moody ratings show in the title of the Moody's Ratings Announcements documents

    Citing Nexis Uni

    The citation button is at the top of the document, below the document title.

    the citation helper button says export citation

    the menu allows a choice of APA, MLA, or Bluebook

    Saving a link to a document or search:

    Nexis Uni has permalinks, links you can save, for both searches and individual documents.

    • Click Actions next to the results summary or document name.
    • Then click "Link to this page".
    • Then copy the link and paste it into a document where you want to save it.

    Actions menu appears as part of the document title the link to this page option provides the permalink

    Market & Industry Research

    Industry Reports in IBISWorld

    IBISWorld Industry Reports overview the state of an industry, the key companies, outlook, and other aspects.

    • To locate a report, search a keyword in the search box. You can select the report you need from the suggestions.

    when typing a word IBIS will suggest possible matching reports

    • Or select the industry you need from the results.
    • You can also browse by choosing Industry Reports from Industry Research.

    the industry research menu allows US and then Industry reports

    • If you don't know the correct words, you can search for the official NAICS title online on sites such as naics.com.
    • Looking for ratios? They are located under Key Statistics.

    Citing IBISWorld

    IBISWorld does not have a citation tool. You will need to write the citation.

    • The citation information is located at the top.
    • You will need the author, date, and the title and report number.

    all needed information is located at the beginning

    • IBISWorld is cited like a report, and as they are only available from this database, the database name is included. This format is in APA 7th edition style.

    Author last name, First Initial. (date). Title of report. Title with number. IBISWorld Database.

    Fernandez, C. (2019, July). Consumer electronics stores in the US. IBISWorld industry report 44311 . IBISWorld Database.

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