Front and back cover (cover page) are pre-textual elements of academic works. Its function is present essential information, such as authorship, title and educational institution where the work will be presented, for example.
In Brazil, the formatting of academic papers is standardized by the Brazilian Association of Technical Norms (ABNT), and this standardization is periodically updated.
In this article, we will present the cover and cover page formatting model for academic papers according to the latest updates from ABNT.
Cover model and elements according to ABNT
1. Institution Name
- Center alignment.
- Standard font (Arial or Times New Roman) in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- Highlighted in bold.
2. course name
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- Highlighted in bold.
OBS.: some higher education institutions usually adopt complementary elements to the name of the course in the formatting of the work covers, such as “faculty”, “department” or “center”, for example. We recommend prior verification of the existence of these complementary elements in university textbooks.
3. author name
- Three paragraphs below the name of the institution.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
OBS.: in case of more than one author, the names must be lined up in alphabetical order.
4. Title
- Located in the center of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- Highlighted in bold.
5. Caption
- Separated from the title by a colon (:).
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
6. City of the institution where the work will be presented
- Located on the penultimate line of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
7. Year of delivery of work
- Located on the last line of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
Model and back cover elements (cover page) according to ABNT
1. author name
- Located on the first line of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
2. Title
- Located eight paragraphs below the author's name.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- Highlighted in bold.
3. Caption
- Separated from the title by a colon (:).
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
4. Nature, purpose, name of the institution and area of concentration
- Located three paragraphs below the title/subtitle,
- Indent of eight centimeters from the left margin.
- Simple spacing.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Justified alignment.
- No highlight.
5. Names of advisor and co-advisor
- In the case of theses, dissertations and monographs.
- Spelled three paragraphs below the previous element.
- Indent of eight centimeters from the left margin.
- Simple spacing.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Justified alignment.
- No highlight.
6. City of the institution where the work will be presented
- Located on the penultimate line of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
7. Year of delivery of work
- Located on the last line of the page.
- Center alignment.
- Standard font in size 12.
- Uppercase characters.
- No highlight.
Margins and spacing
Both the cover and the title page of the works must have margins with the following measurements:
- Top and left margins: three centimeters.
- Bottom and right margins: two centimeters.
As for spacing, the default to be used is 1.5 — except for elements 4 and 5 of the cover page, where it should be simple.
See too:
- How to make bibliographic references ABNT: complete guide
- ABNT Meaning
- Examples of Formatting by ABNT Rules and Norms for academic works
- Example of scientific article formatting by ABNT standards
- ABNT Margins
- Abbreviations in citations according to ABNT standards
- Meaning of Scientific Methodology
