Welcome to the general guide for business sources at Carleton University. Guides on different streams of business are also available.
Handbooks and encyclopedias often give a good overview of a subject area and provide relevant background information, as well as key terms that can be used when searching the databases. Search for them in the OMNI Library Search by Keyword.
- The Blackwell encyclopedia of management - 12 volumes with each volume covering a different stream within business.
- The AMA dictionary of business and management
- AMA handbook of leadership
Writing & Citing
For help with writing reports, search in OMNI for
- Business report writing
- Report writing -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
- Purdue OWL - General Writing Resource
- Explore section The Writing Process for tips on Creating a Thesis Statement, Developing an Outline and more.
Suggested Titles
- 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 Management
- There are many free citation/document management systems available.
Key Databases
- Business Source Complete - Provides indexing and full-text to scholarly journals, business magazines and trade publications.
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database (previously CBCA Complete) - Canadian index to scholarly journals, business news sources and magazines.
- Emerald Management eJournals - Indexes over 100 scholarly journals on all streams of business.
Additional Databases
Cited Reference Searching
Cited Reference Searching is a powerful tool in staying up to date with scholarly research. Use Web of Science and Scopus to find if a particular author and/or paper has been cited by other authors.
Journal Rankings
- ABDC Journal Quality List from the Australian Business Deans Council
- Journal Citation Reports - Provides evaluation of journals by the impact factor within a given discipline.
Business News
- Bloomberg News
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs Provides full text to Canadian business journals and magazines.
- Canadian Newsstream Access to over 280 Canadian news sources
- Eureka Fulltext Canadian French and English newspapers from Alberta, the Atlantic provinces, Québec and aboriginal communities. Includes full-text transcripts of radio and television broadcasts from CBC, CTV and SRC.
- Factiva (Globe and Mail and the Wall Street Journal live here)
- PressReader PDFs to more than 2300 newspapers from 97 countries in over 55 languages.
- Wire Report The leading news service covering Canada's rapidly converging telecom and media sectors.
- Journalist's resource: research on today's news topics
The following titles are available online:
- Canadian Business
- The Economist
- Financial Times (London)
- Forbes
- Fortune
- The Globe and Mail (includes the Report on Business Magazine)
- National Post (includes the Financial Post section and the Financial Post Magazine)
- Wall Street Journal
Grey Literature, Policy Reports, Think Tanks
- Business Source Complete (select publication type "Grey literature", also search market reports and company information)
- Dissertations and Theses Global
- IEEE Xplore Digital Library (narrow down to "conference publications")
- CURVE (Carleton University Repository Virtual Environment)
- Government Information
- WorldCat (covers resources outside of Carleton's collection)
Policy Reports and Working Papers
- Canadian Public Documents Collection - Collection of publications from Canadian public policy institutes, government agencies, advocacy groups, think-tanks, university research centers and other public interest groups.
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library - Covers broad areas of economic trends, organizational performance, and public policy.
- NBER (National Bureau of Economics Research Working Papers)
- Policy File Index (U.S. Policy) - Provides access to U.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and grey literature.
Think Tanks
Think tanks are independent, nonpartisan, public policy research institutes that are often non-profit such as the C.D.Howe Institute, Conference Board of Canada, Macdonald-Laurier Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Brookings Institute, etc. They do not have an agenda as many NGOs have, but conduct research and analysis on current issues and topics. The Harvard Kennedy School provides a searchable database of over 600 think tanks.
Dissertations & Theses
- Dissertations and Theses Global Covers all the same theses from the former Dissertations & Theses Full Text (full-text of North American theses) and Dissertations & Theses: UK and Ireland (selected full-text, others may be found in the EThOS database listed below) plus it now adds more international coverage of some European and Chinese theses.
- Dissertations and Theses@Carleton (a subset of the full Dissertations and Theses database)
- EThOS The UK’s national thesis service provides a record of all doctoral dissertations with a growing number of them in full-text
- Theses Canada / Thèses Canada
- Foreign Doctoral Dissertations
View the full list of our theses and dissertations databases.
Company Information
Begin with the company's 10K or annual report, usually found on their website or by doing a google search of company name and 10K or annual report. 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.
Provides profiles and investment assessments for Canadian companies with assessments of 33 Canadian industry sectors.
- SEDAR
- Frasers - Online Canadian business and manufacturing directory, searchable by company, product or brand name.
- ScottsInfo Online Canadian business and manufacturing directory of more than 115,000 companies and 210,000 executive contacts. Allows searching by geographic and demographic indicators, by products and by contact information indicators.
Global (includes Canadian data)
- Bloomberg Professional - Global financial information network with access to access to current and historical financial information. See our help guides for instructions and tips.
- Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS)
- CRSP - 1925 US stock database and CRSP historical indexes
- Mergent Online
- EDGAR: SEC Filings & Forms
- Factiva
SWOT Analysis
- Passport - Select Companies from the top tab and key in your company name. Select the relevant segment and open the profile. Look in the table of contents for a SWOT analysis
- Business Source Complete - Search for your company and limit to SWOT from filters listed below the search box.
Industry Information
- Business Source Complete - Search your topic, product, company or industry. Under Refine your results, choose Industry Overview and Industry Profile.
- Bloomberg Professional
- 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 the menu bar at top of the page, select Industry. Select the industry from the list provided. Published profiles are found under Analysis and Profiles from the menu on the left.
- Passport - Select Industries from the menu tab and narrow by country. Tip - choose the industry plus specific parts of the industry as there is often more than one industry profile.
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library - Under Browse by, select Topic. Then select Industry Sector Economics for industry profiles or enter the industry name in the search box.
Specialized reports from reputable sources
- World Energy Outlook from the OECD
- Global Auto Report from Scotiabank
Look for valuable information and data from industry associations and NGOs
Lobbyists (industry associations) are the interface between government and business. They work for the best interests of the industry and try to persuade governments to support them on issues. They often provide information and data to the public. To find the relevant association(s) for your industry, search Google for the industry + country + association.
A few examples:
- Canadian Toy Association
- Retail Council of Canada
- American Apparel & Footwear Association
- Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA)
- Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL)
Many non-governmental organizations are critics of the industry. They act as a watchdog for the public and lobby governments to be diligent in overseeing the activities of the industry. To find relevant NGOs, search google by keyword(s) + protection or organization.
A few examples:
- Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
- Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN)
- Automobile Protection Association
Government Sources
- Canada - Statistics Canada CANSIM
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017
- United States - Census Bureau - Business and Economy
The library offers many sources of data and statistics. Help is available at the following service points:
- Research Help Desk
- Data Services
- Government Information
- Statistical Consulting - available for researchers using STATA and SPSS.
Data Resources
- Bloomberg Professional - Global financial information network with access to access to current and historical financial information.
- CRSP - 1925 US stock database and CRSP historical indexes
- Passport - Offers integrated access to internationally comparable statistics, market reports, insightful comments from expert industry and country analysts.
- EIU.com - Provides global economic indicators and forecasting.
- IMD World competitiveness online - Analyzes and ranks the ability of nations to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. World competitiveness online provides access to the entire WCY database including 5-year time series.
- Mergent Online - Global financial information
- Vivadata (formerly Print Measurement Bureau) - provides statistics on Canadian consumer preferences. Please email matthew.gertler@carleton.ca to get the password.
- Many more sources are available through government departments and agencies as well as international organizations. Go to the Government Information page.
