Business Databases

Use the databases on this page to do company research on the U.S. based companies you have chosen for your report. You may also be able to use these databases to find information on companies in the U.K. that you identify as possible competitors.

The library provides access to a wide variety of sources, but the amount of information available varies by type of company:

• Publicly-traded companies are the easiest to research. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires them to provide detailed information on a quarterly and annual basis.
  • Many public companies will have corresponding company reports, which can be found using the databases on this page.
• Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually.
  • You can try searching for company reports on subsidiaries in the suggested databases, but you might have to expand your search to the parent company. You could then supplement that by searching for articles that focus on the subsidiary more specifically. 
• Private companies are not required to release any information about themselves and are therefore more challenging to research.
  • If you've chosen a private company and are unable to find company reports on it, you may have to try article searching. The databases Business Source Premier, Proquest One Business, and Data Axle listed on this page might contain some private company information, but there is often a limited amount of information available and sales figures are often estimates.
  • Trade journals, magazines, and newspapers are excellent sources for the latest business news and trends, and can sometimes be the only source for private company information.

When researching subsidiaries or private companies, you might be able to find information or annual reports on the companies' websites. Keep in mind that this information comes with a degree of bias - companies will often only show you what they want you to see. 

ProQuest One Business - Includes proprietary Company Overviews plus company reports from sources including D&B Hoovers, Plunkett Research, and more

Marketline Company Profiles (formerly Datamonitor)(EBSCO) - Contains company reports from MarketLine (GlobalData).

Statista - Statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources; 170 industries and 150+ countries.

Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO) - Academic resources on mass communication law and media.

EDGAR (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) - All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval). Anyone can access and download this information for free.