Research Guides: Public Relations: Researching Industries

Industry Codes

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS, pronounced "nakes") is used to classify business establishments with codes of 2 to 6 digits. This system was developed to help with comparing industries across the United States, Canada and Mexico. In many of the library's resources, the NAICS code may be used to search for information about an industry.

North American Industry Classification System - search by keyword or industry code

Industry Statistics

County Business Patterns
Shows annual data by industry sector for the U.S., all states and all counties. Among the items available are employment, annual and first quarter payroll, total establishments, and number of establishments by employment size.
Economic Census
Every 5 years, the nation's business are counted and data is presented by industry category and geographically. Generally covers the number and size of establishments, sales, payroll and number of employees by industry category.

Industry Overviews

BizMiner
BizMiner produces the most granular industry statistical reports in the market. They offer industry financial analysis benchmarks for over 5,000 lines of business and industry market trends on thousands more. Their market analysis reports are available at the national and local levels down to the zip code.
IBISWorld
Comprehensive, astute and easy to digest, IBISWorld?s industry research reports offer the very latest content on every U.S. industry. Each report consists of 30 to 40 pages of key statistics and analysis on market characteristics, operating conditions, current and forecast performance, major industry participants and more.
Statista
Data aggregation and research platform with statistics and information covering worldwide markets, industries, and societal topics
ValueLine Investment Survey
ValueLine Investment Survey is a comprehensive source of information on approximately 1,700 stocks, more than 90 industries, the stock market, and the economy. Click on Markets, then on Industries to access the Industry research information.

Citing Reports

IBISWorld report citations in APA format should resemble this:

Crompton, J. (2014, December). IBISWorld industry report 51223: Music publishing in the US. Retrieved from IBISWorld Industry Market Research database.

BizMiner report citations in APA format should resemble this:

BizMiner. (2014, December). Industry financial report (5 year); [5122] Sector: Sound Recording Industries; sales class: $1 - $499,999. Retrieved from the BizMiner database.

Euromonitor Passport report citations in APA format should resemble this:

Euromonitor. (2016, November 25). Health and Wellness Global Performance 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from Euromonitor Passport Database.

Finding Articles

Business Source Complete
A scholarly business database providing a collection of bibliographic and full text content in all disciplines of business. Indexing and abstracts for scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included. Additional full text, non-journal content includes SWOT analyses, financial data, books, major reference works, conference proceedings, case studies, and industry, country, company, and market research reports.
Gale OneFile: Business
Analyze company performance and activity, industry events and trends as well as the latest in management, economics and politics. Access to a combination of broker research reports, trade publications, newspapers, journals and company directory listings with full text and images available. Coverage of all business disciplines, including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management and strategy, as well as business theory and practice.
Nexis Uni
Access over 6,000 news, business, and legal sources. The outstanding news coverage includes deep back files and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources.

Useful Periodicals

The following periodicals can be useful for industry research.

Nashville Business Journal
Belmont University Students, Faculty and Staff have full access to the Nashville Business Journal through your laptop, tablet, and smart phone devices via the website as well as the mobile app. The Nashville Business Journal contains local Business News throughout the Nashville metropolitan area, across 18 different industries locally. To access articles, “Create Your Free Membership” or Sign In with your @belmont.edu, @pop.belmont.edu, or @adjunct.belmont.edu email address for instant access.
This video demonstrates how to access and best navigate the site: NBJ Navigation Tips