A strategic plan is a document that is used to define an organization’s process of achieving a long-term goal. Citing a strategic plan in a research paper can provide support to the argument you're making. But if you use a strategic plan as a resource in a research paper, you must cite it correctly to give your research credibility. The American Psychological Association, or APA, has formats for citing such documents.
In-Text Citation
According to the sixth edition of the "American Psychological Association Manual," in-text citations require that you include the author's last name (followed by a comma) and the year of publication in parenthesis.
For example: (Smith, 2004)
If the author’s name is not identified in the strategic plan, provide the title of the plan (in italics) and the year of publication.
For example:
(Business Plan to Increase Production, 2004)
References Citation
For the references citation, place the entry in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name or the organization’s name if no author is provided. Begin the entry with the author's last name, if available, or the name of the organization that published the plan. Next provide the year of publication in parenthesis, the title of the strategic plan in italics, the report or volume number in parenthesis and the location and name of the publisher if it is a printed source. If it is an online source, include the retrieval date and identify the publisher in a retrieval address.
For example:
Smith, John. (2004). Business plan to increase production (Vol.3). 12 March 2007. Retrieved from http://www.businesplansarchives.com