ABNT Reference Generator

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how to reference a book ABNT

How to reference a book under ABNT NBR 6023

The book reference is the most common one in any Brazilian academic paper, and also the easiest to get the punctuation wrong on. Fill in the fields below and copy the already-formatted result.

The exact element order

A book reference follows: SURNAME, Author name. Bold work title: subtitle not bold. Edition (from the 2nd onward). Place: Publisher, year. Each element is separated by a period, and the place is followed by a colon before the publisher.
The edition only shows from the second one onward ("2nd ed.", "3rd ed." and so on). First-edition books never carry that information, writing "1st ed." is a common mistake the standard explicitly says to avoid by omitting it.
With two or three authors, all of them are listed and separated by semicolons. With four or more, the simplified convention uses only the first author followed by "et al.".
Authorless books follow the same rule: when an institution stands behind the work, its name takes the author's place, from the most general body to the most specific, as in BRASIL. MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO (Brazil's Ministry of Education). The book form has no separate institution field, so the full institutional name goes straight into the surname field, which the generator already converts to capitals automatically, with no need to type it in caps by hand. Blank author rows left in the form are discarded automatically before the reference is assembled, so adding and then removing a co-author midway through filling out the form never leaves a stray semicolon in the final result.

Book reference examples

Book in a later edition

Input: FREIRE, Paulo / Pedagogia do oprimido / 50ª ed. / São Paulo / Paz e Terra / 2011
Expected output: FREIRE, Paulo. Pedagogia do oprimido. 50. ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2011.

Edition from the 2nd onward always shows.

Fictitious textbook with two authors

Input: SILVA, Marcos; ROCHA, Beatriz / Introdução à estatística aplicada / 1ª ed. / Curitiba / Editora Exemplo / 2020
Expected output: SILVA, Marcos; ROCHA, Beatriz. Introdução à estatística aplicada. Curitiba: Editora Exemplo, 2020.

First edition: the edition segment disappears entirely.

Book signed by an institution

Input: BRASIL. Ministério da Educação / Diretrizes curriculares nacionais / Brasília / MEC / 2020
Expected output: BRASIL. MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO. Diretrizes curriculares nacionais. Brasília: MEC, 2020.

The name typed in lowercase in the surname field comes out automatically in capitals in the result, exactly as NBR 6023 requires.

Full tool FAQ

What is NBR 6023?

It is the ABNT standard that defines how bibliographic references are built in Brazil: which elements to include, in what order, and with what punctuation. It is the standard required in most Brazilian academic papers, capstones, dissertations and theses. It is unrelated to APA, MLA, Chicago or Vancouver.

When do I use "et al." instead of listing every author?

What does "(org.)" mean after the book author's name?

When do I need to include "Disponível em" and "Acesso em"?

Why doesn't the edition show up in some book references?

Does this tool also generate APA or Vancouver references?

Is my reference data stored on a server?

Does the generated reference replace review by an advisor or librarian?

Frequently asked questions

Is the book title bold or italic?

NBR 6023 accepts bold, italics or underline, as long as the same choice is kept consistent across every reference in the same paper. This generator uses bold, the most common choice in typed papers.

What if the book does not state an edition?

Leave the edition field blank. The tool assumes it is a first edition and omits that element, exactly as the standard requires.

How do I reference a book with no publisher information?

NBR 6023 recommends using "[s.n.]" (sine nomine) when the publisher is unknown, and "[s.l.]" (sine loco) when the place is unknown. Type those codes directly into the matching fields.

Next steps

The exact element order

A book reference follows: SURNAME, Author name. Bold work title: subtitle not bold. Edition (from the 2nd onward). Place: Publisher, year. Each element is separated by a period, and the place is followed by a colon before the publisher.

The edition only shows from the second one onward ("2nd ed.", "3rd ed." and so on). First-edition books never carry that information, writing "1st ed." is a common mistake the standard explicitly says to avoid by omitting it.

With two or three authors, all of them are listed and separated by semicolons. With four or more, the simplified convention uses only the first author followed by "et al.".

Authorless books follow the same rule: when an institution stands behind the work, its name takes the author's place, from the most general body to the most specific, as in BRASIL. MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO (Brazil's Ministry of Education). The book form has no separate institution field, so the full institutional name goes straight into the surname field, which the generator already converts to capitals automatically, with no need to type it in caps by hand. Blank author rows left in the form are discarded automatically before the reference is assembled, so adding and then removing a co-author midway through filling out the form never leaves a stray semicolon in the final result.

Book reference examples

Book in a later edition

Input: FREIRE, Paulo / Pedagogia do oprimido / 50ª ed. / São Paulo / Paz e Terra / 2011
Expected output: FREIRE, Paulo. Pedagogia do oprimido. 50. ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2011.

Edition from the 2nd onward always shows.

Fictitious textbook with two authors

Input: SILVA, Marcos; ROCHA, Beatriz / Introdução à estatística aplicada / 1ª ed. / Curitiba / Editora Exemplo / 2020
Expected output: SILVA, Marcos; ROCHA, Beatriz. Introdução à estatística aplicada. Curitiba: Editora Exemplo, 2020.

First edition: the edition segment disappears entirely.

Book signed by an institution

Input: BRASIL. Ministério da Educação / Diretrizes curriculares nacionais / Brasília / MEC / 2020
Expected output: BRASIL. MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO. Diretrizes curriculares nacionais. Brasília: MEC, 2020.

The name typed in lowercase in the surname field comes out automatically in capitals in the result, exactly as NBR 6023 requires.

Full tool FAQ

What is NBR 6023?

When do I use "et al." instead of listing every author?

What does "(org.)" mean after the book author's name?

When do I need to include "Disponível em" and "Acesso em"?

Why doesn't the edition show up in some book references?

Does this tool also generate APA or Vancouver references?

Is my reference data stored on a server?

Does the generated reference replace review by an advisor or librarian?

Frequently asked questions

Is the book title bold or italic?

NBR 6023 accepts bold, italics or underline, as long as the same choice is kept consistent across every reference in the same paper. This generator uses bold, the most common choice in typed papers.

What if the book does not state an edition?

Leave the edition field blank. The tool assumes it is a first edition and omits that element, exactly as the standard requires.

How do I reference a book with no publisher information?

NBR 6023 recommends using "[s.n.]" (sine nomine) when the publisher is unknown, and "[s.l.]" (sine loco) when the place is unknown. Type those codes directly into the matching fields.