The Brazilian Association of Technical Standards - ABNT, among other attributions, is responsible for standardizing the formatting of technical documents, in order to facilitate their understanding and access to knowledge scientific.
In this sense, ABNT edited official documents called "Brazilian Standards - NBR" that form a set of rules that must be followed in the preparation of academic papers, scientific articles and alike. Check out the content of these standards here.
General Structure
The general structure for formatting academic papers is provided for in NBR 14724/2005, which starts with the following scheme:
| Structure | Elements |
|---|---|
| pre-textual |
|
| textual |
|
| Post-textual |
|
The work must contain, at least, all the mandatory elements from the table above. Optional options are at the discretion of the author of the work or the educational institution.
Regardless of how many elements enter the work, all must be placed in the same order shown in the table.
Look formatting examples for all of the above elements.
General rules
The standard also provides the general rules for formatting academic papers. These rules must apply to all elements of the work, except those that have specific rules to the contrary (which will be mentioned below).
Format
As a general rule, the works must be presented in white paper and in A4 format (21cm x 29,7cm). The content should only be inserted in the obverse (front) of the pages, with the exception of the title page, which will contain the catalog card on its back.
Source
The font used in the entire work will be size 12. However, the standard provides that the following elements must be typed in smaller size, unspecified:
- quotes over three lines
- footnotes
- pagination
- illustration captions and tables
Spacing
The spacing of the entire text will be 1,5, with the exception of the following elements, which must adopt spacing simple:
- quotes over three lines
- footnotes
- pagination
- illustration captions and tables
- nature, purpose and name of the institution (present on the title page)
- catalog form (present on the back of the cover sheet)
margins
The size of the margins will be:
- 3 cm for left and top margins
- 2 cm for right and bottom margins
Read more about formatting the margins according to ABNT.
Pagination
Starting from the cover sheet, all sheets should be counted, but the numbering only starts atfirst page of the introduction from work. Therefore, the number of sheets in the pre-textual elements (see table above) will define the number of the first numbered page.
Quotes
The citation rules are provided for in NBR 10520/2002. According to her, citations must contain the information necessary to identify the source consulted and will comply with the following rules:
- if the indication of the author of the source is made outside parentheses, it will be in upper and lower case letters [Ex: "...as Albert Einstein said."]
- if the indication of the author of the source is made inside parentheses, it will be in capital letters, only. [Ex: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." (EINSTEIN)]
- if the quote has more than 3 lines, it must follow an indentation of 4cm from the left margin, to have single spacing and the font size should be smaller than the rest of the text.
- quotes within quotes should be in single quotes [Ex: "...Einstein said 'imagination is more important than knowledge' before saying that..."]
see some quote examples.
Pre-Text Elements
Cover
The cover will consist of:
- name of educational institution (optional)
- author's name
- title and subtitle of the work
- number of volumes (if there is more than one)
- place and year of presentation
Speed bump
The spine must contain:
- job title
- author's name
- any information that characterizes the work (ex: Volume 02)
All this information must be printed in the same direction as the spine.
cover sheet
On the cover page will appear the same elements of the cover, with the following additions:
- nature and purpose of work
- identification of examiners
- catalog card printed on the back
These last three pieces of information should adopt spacing simple.
Errata
The errata will show the reference of the work and the identification of the error with its proper correction.
Approval Sheet
The approval sheet will contain:
- author's name,
- title, subtitle, nature and purpose of work
- approval date
- note (optional)
- signature of the evaluators.
Dedication, Acknowledgments and Epigraphs
Dedications, acknowledgments and epigraphs do not have specific rules.
Summaries
The rules related to abstracts are in NBR 6028/2003. The standard provides that the abstract must be a brief presentation of the work (a single paragraph), citing its objectives, methods and conclusions. Below, the keywords should be pointed out, which are the central terms contained in the abstract, capable of conveying the main idea of the work.
The abstract in a foreign language will be the faithful translation of the abstract in the vernacular language. Likewise, the keywords will also be translated.
List of Illustrations, Tables, Abbreviations, Acronyms or Symbols
Lists of illustrations, tables, abbreviations, acronyms or symbols should list their items in the order they appear in the work, identifying the page number (in the case of illustrations and tables) and its meaning (in the case of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols).
summary
The NBR 6027/2003 provides the rules regarding the summary, which must show in order the topics and subtopics that will be covered in the work, specifying the page number of each one. This pagination could be:
- by the page number where the topic starts to be covered (example: 14)
- by the range of pages in which the topic is covered, separating the numbers by hyphens (example: 30-45)
- by the page numbers on which the topic approach is distributed (example: 27, 35, 64 or 27-30, 35-38, 64-70)
The table of contents is the last pre-textual element, and will not point to elements before it.
Post-Text Elements
References
References are regulated by NBR 6023/2002. They must contain all the information necessary to identify the sources, such as:
- author
- title
- edition
- publisher site
- publication date
References must be on an exclusive sheet located right after completion in the work, but may also appear in footnotes, at the end of chapters or before summaries and reviews.
Check out the main reference formatting.
Glossary
The glossary should gather the terms used in the work, which need to be defined. The organization of words should be in alphabetical order.
Appendices and Appendices
Appendices and annexes are documents eventually added to the work. The NBR 14724/2005 only stipulates that the presentation of the appendices and annexes must be done in capital letters, followed by a dash and the definition of the content. (Ex: APPENDIX A - List of ABNT Standards)
Index
The NBR 6034/2004 defines the index as a "relation of words or phrases, ordered according to certain criteria, which locates and refers to the information contained in a text."
It must be the last element of the work, and may sort the terms in alphabetical, systematic, chronological and numerical order.
Also read the meaning of NBR.