Company Information
From Simmons Library Research Guides
We have selected these resources to help you find relevant information on your research topic. Please contact a librarian for help using the resources listed in this guide or for help with your research process.
Contents |
Reference and Background Information
Search for Reference sources that contain information about your specific research topic here:
You may also consult the resources below for overviews of the topic that you have chosen to research. Use these resources to help you to put your topic in context and give you the big picture of what information exists about your topic. These resources may have bibliographies at the end of each entry that can help further your research.
- Analyst Reports
Simmons Eresource
Analyst reports can be accessed through the advanced search page in the General Business File ASAP database. Reuters Research on Demand is a three-year rolling backfile of investment reports from investment banks, brokers, independent research providers and from Reuters itself. To get to the Reuters Investment Reports: Go directly into the General BusinessFile, and click on advanced search. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on Investment Reports. It is necessary to have a ticker symbol to search these reports.
- General Business File ASAP
Simmons Eresource
This resource includes broker research reports, trade publication and journal articles, company directory listings, and Reuters Analyst reports. General Business File also contains company profiles that include links to articles about the company organized by different topics such as products & technology and sales & marketing. To access the company profiles, click on the Advanced Search link on the left-hand side and then click on Company Profiles at the bottom of the page. Next, select the Company (co) index from the drop-down menu, type in the company name in the search box and click on the Search button. Click on View and then a list of profiles will appear.
- Hoover's Company Records
Simmons Eresource
This database provides company records for more than 40,000 public and private companies, including information on over 225,000 key executives.
- MarketLine
Simmons Eresource
Provides 10,000 company profiles on leading global companies and 2,000 industry profiles containing the most important facts on key global vertical industries. MarketLine also contains 50 country profiles that give quick access to country data points, trends, and analysis.
- Morningstar.com Library Edition
Simmons Eresource
This resource provides detailed reports on individual mutual funds, as well as in-depth financial data on thousands of stocks and mutual funds. It also provides a tool for screening mutual funds based on criteria and it allows you to create stock and mutual fund portfolios.
- Yahoo! Finance
Free Online
This website provides company stock information, company profiles, company news, key statistics, listings of competitors, and industry information.
- Bloomberg
Note: the Bloomberg terminal is a stand-alone terminal and is available inside the SOM library only.
This resource provides real-time financial, economic, and government information covering all market sectors. Data available from this essential financial source includes stock prices and analytical summaries for every publicly-traded company in the world.
- CNN Money
Free Online
This website provides access to business and financial news as well as company information and rankings.
Annual Reports
- Company Websites
Use each company's web site. Don't be distracted by their marketing - look for a link called Investor Relations, Financials About the Company, etc.
- EDGAR Company Search
Free Online
Publicly-traded companies are required to file a 10K with the SEC, which includes annual reports. Search and view 10K's using EDGAR. Company filings are available from 1994.
- Annual Report Gallery
Free Online
This resource allows users to review an annual report in an easy and convenient manner. Boasting the most complete and up-to-date listings of annual reports on the internet, AnnualReports.com provides instant access to annual reports in their actual format in one single location.
Finding Articles
- ABI/Inform
Simmons Eresource
Find in-depth coverage of business conditions, trends, corporate strategies and tactics, management techniques, competitive and product information, and a wide variety of other topics from more than 1800 leading business and management publications, most of which are fulltext or page-image. Includes fulltext Wall Street Journal.
Enter your search terms:
Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search:
- Type in a word or phrase in the search box (use the * to truncate; and to link separate concepts;or to group similar concepts)
- Consider selecting a search field name in the drop down menu, or accept "Citation and Abstract" as the default. The most specific search would use the "Subject" field. Other Search Fields include article title, author, company name, personal name, source, SIC code, ticker
- Click an operator (AND, OR, AND NOT, WITHIN 3, PRE/1) to link your search terms
- Specify limits such as Date, full text only, or scholarly/peer reviewed
- Results are available as: citation, full text, text and graphics and/or page image (like a photocopy of article). Articles can be emailed to you.
- Business Source Premier
Simmons Eresource
A comprehensive business periodical database that includes scholarly journals and business periodicals covering topics such as management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more. BSP provides more than 8,800 full text scholarly publications, some as far back as 1922, such as the Harvard Business Review.
Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search:
- Type in search terms in the Find search box
- group similar concepts in ( ) linked with "or". For example: (women or female or gender)
- Truncate word variants with *. For example: instead of typing (manage or management or managing or manager) just type manag*
- Link separate concepts with "and". For example: (women or female or gender) and (manag* or executiv*)
- Consider selecting a specific "Field" to limit the search. The most specific and generally most accurate is a SU Subject Heading search. Also common TI title, AB abstract, CO company.
- Refine your search with Limits such as: Full Text only, from a specific Journal, Peer Reviewed (more scholarly), Date Published.
- Refine your search with Expanders To search within the entire fulltext of an article, check the "search with within full text articles". To take advantage of the built in thesaurus, check the box "also search for related words"
- Type in search terms in the Find search box
- Lexis Nexis Academic
Simmons Eresource
Provides searchable access to a comprehensive spectrum of full-text information from over 5,600 sources--including non-English language sources--selected to meet academic research needs. Included are national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information, Shepard's Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789, business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, industry and market news, statistics, and medical information.
- Lexis Nexis Academic: Business Research
Simmons Eresource
For business-specific news, facts and events related to companies and industries:
- Choose News tab
- Choose Business News Publications from Selected Sources drop-down menu.
- Enter at least one search term.
- Choose index in which to search for the keyword, such as: headline, lead paragraph.
- Academic Search Complete
Simmons Eresource
Academic Search Complete is a great place to start your search for both popular and scholarly articles, no matter what your topic is! It contains journals from almost every topic and is designed specifically for academic institutions. It provides more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, 4,400 of which are peer-reviewed journals. This resource also features content as far back as 1865.
- Academic Onefile
Simmons Eresource
Academic Onefile contains 8,000 academic journals, the majority in full-text, available in HTML and PDF formats. In addition it contains hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and the CBC.
- Expanded Academic ASAP
Simmons Eresource
From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images. Updated daily.
TIP: Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!
Searching the Web
Simmons librarians have created a customized search engine that allows you
to find Company information on the free web.
Use this Company Information Google Custom Search Engine box to search all select, quality free web sites at the
same time:
You may also wish to go directly to, or bookmark, the Company Information Google Custom Search Engine
Tips for Searching the Internet:
- Use the advanced search function, which is available from most search engines:
- Google - See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Ask - Click "Advanced." See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Live (MSN) - See also "Options"
- Exalead - See also "Exalead FAQ"
- Yahoo! Search
- Limit your search to .edu and .gov sites. These often provide quality research, statistics, and commentary. Sites ending in .org often have good information, too, but are likely to espouse a strong stance or bias on the issues they cover and may not be objective.
- Try Scandoo, which presents search results from Google, Yahoo! Search, or Live (MSN) with an evaluation about the objectivity, credibility, and overall reliability of the site.
- Consider using a directory of pre-screened, annotated sites:
Writing Style and Citation
For more information on style and citation for this discipline, please contact the Simmons College Writing Center
You may also consider consulting these resources:
- Writing Resources
Free Online
The Writing Center provides online resources for citing your research. If you are unsure of which citation style to use, consult your professor and consider the following:- Use APA (American Psychological Association) when your topic is in the Social Sciences
- Use ASA (American Sociological Association) when your topic is in Sociology
- Use MLA (Modern Language Association) when your topic is in the Humanities
- Use Chicago/Turabian when your topic is in Literature, History or the Arts
- Use CSE (Council of Science Editors) when your topic is in the Sciences
- RefWorks
Simmons Eresource
RefWorks is a great program for organizing articles, books, and other materials you need for research. You can also use RefWorks to create bibliographies, create in text citations in your paper (Write-N-Cite), and share your research with others. Access RefWorks from the A-Z list of resources on the library's web page, and then follow the instructions to create your own username and password. We hold RefWorks Clinics throughout the semester. For more information, ask a reference librarian
