BCOM 214 - Fundamentals of Business Communication

Assignment Overview

You will research an industry and draft a short, informative research brief. Your research brief should reflect clear, organized writing that translates academic research into a professional, real-world deliverable. 

Your goal is to: 

• identify credible sources,
• extract meaningful insights,
• cite them using APA format.

For Fall 2025, you are researching the U.S. software publishing industry.

How will this guide help?

This guide will walk you through strategies and recommended resources for your research. Refer to your Industry Research Brief assignment prompt for specific requirements and formatting (and refer to it periodically as you research and write your brief to stay on track).

Each page of this guide maps to a section of your brief (excluding introduction and conclusion):

1. Industry Overview
2. Major Companies and Product Offerings
3. Trends and Future Outlooks

This guide should help you find, analyze, and integrate at least 3 credible sources from library databases and cite them following APA style. It will also provide some tips for finding sources beyond the library.

Starting with a solid foundation in business research practices will help you efficiently gather industry and company research—a skill every business professional needs. Follow the step-by-step process and tutorials throughout this guide to sharpen your search skills, find credible data, and uncover insights about your industry.

Complete this tutorial