How to Cite a Government Report in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard

What Information You Need

The examples below use a fictional agency, the National Office for Road Safety, within a fictional Department of Transport, so the patterns are clear. Replace each element with your report's details.

Citing a Government Report in APA 7

Agency as author

Agency Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. 123). Parent Agency (if not the author). URL

• Use the most specific agency responsible as the author, and the parent agency as publisher.
• If the author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher.
• Italicise the title, in sentence case, and put the report number in parentheses after it, not italicised.
• Use whatever label the report uses: Report No., Publication No., Research Paper No.

Named individual authors

In-text citation

For a long agency name, introduce an abbreviation the first time and use it afterwards: (National Office for Road Safety [NORS], 2024), then (NORS, 2024). Narrative: The National Office for Road Safety (NORS, 2024) reported... Only abbreviate if you cite the agency several times.

Citing a Government Report in MLA 9

When the agency is author and publisher

MLA 9 says that when an organisation is both author and publisher, you begin the entry with the title and list the organisation only as publisher.

When the author differs from the publisher

• Italicise the title in title case.
• Report numbers can be added as an optional element after the title.
• Older MLA guidance began government entries with the name of the government, such as the country or state, followed by the agency. Check whether your instructor expects that form.

In-text citation

Use the first element of the entry: a shortened title in italics (Road Casualty Trends 14), or the agency name if it begins the entry (National Office for Road Safety 14).

Citing a Government Report in Chicago

Notes and bibliography: note

Bibliography entry

Some instructors also expect a place of publication before the publisher. Chicago treats government documents flexibly; consistency within your paper matters most.

Author-date

Reference: National Office for Road Safety. 2024. Road Casualty Trends, 2015 to 2023. Report no. RS-24-07. Department of Transport. URL. In text: (National Office for Road Safety 2024, 14).

Citing a Government Report in Harvard

Harvard formats vary by institution. A widely used pattern is:

Agency (Year) Title of report. Report number. Place: Publisher. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).

In text: (National Office for Road Safety, 2024, p. 14). See our Harvard referencing guide for your institution's options.

IEEE and Vancouver

Technical and health sciences papers cite government reports frequently. Both styles number references in the order they are first cited.

IEEE (technical report pattern):

Vancouver (common pattern):

Medical journals using Vancouver often follow the National Library of Medicine's Citing Medicine for reports, which sets out the order of elements in detail. See our Vancouver guide and IEEE guide.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Special Cases

Official statistics pages and data tables

Statistics published as web pages or interactive tables are cited like web pages or datasets, with the agency as author. In APA, label datasets with "[Data set]" after the title. Include the date the data was last updated where shown, and give a retrieval date if the page changes regularly.

Reports from international organisations

Reports from bodies such as the WHO, World Bank or OECD follow the same pattern as government reports, with the organisation as author.

Legislation, bills and court cases

Laws and legal documents use separate legal citation formats. APA follows legal citation conventions for these, and many law courses use a dedicated legal style. Do not cite a statute as a report.

Congressional, parliamentary and committee reports

These often have specific numbering systems, such as a session number and document number. Include the numbers exactly as they appear, and check your style guide's examples for legislative documents.

A report with no date

Use "n.d." in APA and Harvard, and omit the date in MLA, adding an access date. First check the PDF properties, footer and web page for a date.

A page within a large agency website

If you are citing a web page rather than a formal report, use the web page format. See our guide to citing websites and online sources.

Finding the Right Agency Name

• Use the full official name, not an informal abbreviation, in the reference list.
• Do not put "The" before agency names unless it is part of the official title.
• When a report lists several agencies, use the lead agency as author, or follow the order on the title page.
• When a government has been reorganised, use the agency name that appears on the report, even if the agency has since changed name.

A Worked Example in Context

APA 7:

MLA 9:

Evaluating Government Sources

Government reports are generally authoritative, but they still need critical reading. Check when the data was collected, since reports are often published a year or more later. Distinguish research reports and official statistics from policy documents, strategies and press releases, which may present information to support a political position. Look for the methodology section, note any stated limitations, and prefer the most recent edition of a recurring report. When a report summarises findings from other studies, consider citing the original research as well.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Listing the website or country instead of the agency responsible.
• Missing report numbers, which help readers find the exact document.
• Ignoring named authors shown on the title page.
• Abbreviating agency names in the reference list.
• Repeating the agency as publisher when it is already the author (APA).
• Treating legislation as a report.