How to cite a PDF or online report

A PDF is a file format, not a type of source

You don’t cite “a PDF.” You cite what the document is: a report, a fact sheet, a journal article, a book chapter. Work out which one it is, then use that format. APA’s own examples link straight to PDF files without labeling them as PDFs.

This page covers the most common case: a report published online by a government agency, organization or company.

APA 7

When an organization wrote and published the report:

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. 123). URL

Northfield Water Authority. (2024). Groundwater quality in the Lanmore Basin, 2019–2023 (Report No. NWA-24-07). https://www.example.org/reports/nwa-24-07.pdf

• The author is the most specific agency or group responsible. If only a group is named on the cover, treat it as the author even if people are credited inside.
• Write the group’s name in full. You can introduce an abbreviation in your text.
• If the author is also the publisher, don’t repeat the name as publisher, as above.
• If a larger parent agency isn’t part of the author’s name, add it after the title as the publisher.
• A report number goes in parentheses right after the title, not in italics.
• Use a DOI if the report has one, otherwise a working URL. Don’t write “Retrieved from” before it.

When people are named as authors:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of report (Report No. 123). Publisher. URL

In-text: (Northfield Water Authority, 2024) or Northfield Water Authority (2024).

MLA 9

When an organization wrote and published the report, start with the title and list the organization only as publisher:

Title of Report. Organization, Year, URL.

Groundwater Quality in the Lanmore Basin, 2019–2023. Northfield Water Authority, 2024, www.example.org/reports/nwa-24-07.pdf.

If a division of the organization wrote it, list the division as author and the parent organization as publisher. In-text, use a short form of the title, or name the organization in your sentence.

(The examples on this page are made up.)