Content last reviewed:
Scholarly Journals & Popular Magazines: Do you know the Difference?
Find scholarly journal articles by using the following databases:
Business Source Complete
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)
Econlit
Emerald Management eJournals
Google Scholar be sure to read the Search Guide for tips on searching and access
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
Scopus
Web of Science (part of this is Social Sciences Citation Index)
World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Use business magazines and newspapers for current information:
- Business Week
- Forbes
- Fortune
- The Economist
- Financial Times
- Wall Street Journal
- Financial Times (London)
- The Globe and Mail
- National Post Online (Includes the Financial Post)
Current awareness monitoring service:
Journalist's Resource: research on today's news topics Provides overview and details of current issues.
Use the following indexes to search newspapers, magazines, and journals by topic:
Search NAICS 2017 to get the NAICS code for an industry.
Company Data
Canadian
Global (includes Canadian data)
- Bloomberg Access limited to a single workstation in the library. See our help guides for instructions and tips.
- Mergent Online
- EDGAR
- Factiva
Tips
Look for a SWOT analysis: Go to Business Source Complete and search for your company name. Scroll down and limit by Company Report and SWOT Analysis.
Look to the company's website for valuable information: Read the Management Discussion and Analysis - (MD&A) section of the Annual Report or 10k. Read the letter to the shareholders from the CEO in the company's annual report.
Industry Reports
- Business Source Complete - search your topic, product, company or industry. Under Refine your results choose Industry Overview and Industry Profile.
- Mergent Online - when connected, select the Report Search tab from the menu. Select industry of interest and then geographical region.
- Factiva - mouse over Companies/Markets from menu bar at top of page, select Industry. Select industry from the list provided. Published profiles are found under Analysis and Profiles from menu on left.
- Passport - Select Industries from the menu tab and narrow by country. Conference Board of Canada e-Library - Browse by topic -> Industry Sector Economics for industry profiles or enter industry name in the search box.
- HighBeam Business: Industry Reports Free industry reports from The Gale Group on US industries.
Background Information
CIA The World Factbook
EIU Economist Intelligence Unit
Competitiveness
World Competitiveness Online - covers 59 countries - only available from on-campus- select data - choose from standard geography, e.g. Americas - then move to criteria - go to Government efficiency - expand Business legislation - select State ownership of enterprises
Global Competitiveness Report - covers 149 countries - also available at this site are: Global Risks Report and Global Gender Gap Report
Governance
Legatum Prosperity Index
DataGov: Governance Indicators Database (global coverage from the Inter-American Development Bank). To obtain information on the degree of state capitalism - go to the Public Management tab- click on load all variables and scroll down to Government enterprises and investment as a percentage of the total. On state capitalism see also OECD State-Owned Enterprises and the Principle of Competitive Neutrality - covers the degree of state capitalism in Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Romania and Chinese Taipei.
Worldwide Governance Indicators - reports aggregate and individual governance indicators for 213 economies over the period 1996-2009, for six dimensions of governance
-Indicators also in the World dataBank
Doing Business - provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies. Each economy is ranked according to 10 sets of indicators. These are combined into an overall "ease of doing business" ranking
-Indicators also in the World dataBank
-indicators also in the AGI Data Portal. Actionable governance indicators focus on specific and narrowly defines aspects of governance thereby often capturing data on the "missing middle" in the outcome chain. To see sources used, click on Indicators. To see Country Profiles, click on Data in the top navigation bar.
Enterprise Surveys - provides the world's most comprehensive company-level data in 125 emerging markets and developing economies
-indicators also in World dataBank
-indicators also in the AGI Data Portal
Governance Assessment Portal (UNDP)
Global Edge (Michigan State University) After selecting a country - note entries in the left-hand sidebar for risk and indices. Under quick links note U.S. Commercial Service Country Commercial Guides - note that depending on the country, there may be information on state capitalism - for example, chapter 6 of the guide for Brazil has a section on Competition from State-Owned Enterprises
Human Development
Millennium Development Goals Report Card
Millennium Development Goals - gateway site from the UN on the MDGs
Reports - in the left-hand sidebar, note the link of Regional Commissions' MDG sites also see the development banks:
African Development Bank Group
Asian Development Bank
European Investment Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
Islamic Development Bank
and the OECD and the Millennium Development Goals
Customized Google Search Engines
Library Subject Guide: Development Assistance Evaluation
Statistics
Millennium Development Goals Indicators: Official UN site for the MDG Indicators
note - MDGs also appear in the World dataBank and UNdata
Search OMNI to find books on writing business reports.
Other aids for writing include
- Avoid Plagiarism
- Write a book review (Queen's University)
- Write a literature review (Portland State University)
Suggested Titles
- Doing honest work in college: how to prepare citations, avoid plagiarism, and achieve real academic success
REF PN171.F56 L56 2004 - Preparing research articles
HM569.T49 2008 - Making sense: a student's guide to research and writing: social sciences
REF H62.N687 2007 [other editions on 4th floor] - Student guide to research in the digital age: how to locate and evaluate information sources
ZA3075 .S74 2006 - AMA handbook of business writing HF5726.A55 2010
- Wall Street Journal guide to information graphics: the dos and don'ts of presenting data, facts and figures - HF5718.22 .W65 2010
Guides
- Citation Guide Excellent guide to citing business sources in Chicago Style from Harvard Business School
- Chicago Manual of Style Online
- Citation guides prepared by Carleton library
- Citation management
- Citing Data & Statistics
