All Diploma Programme students participate in the three elements that make up the core of the programme:

• theory of knowledge

• creativity, activity, service

• the extended essay.

These three elements of the core complement each other, working together to achieve the following common aims:

• to support, and be supported by, the academic disciplines

• to foster international-mindedness

• to develop self-awareness and a sense of identity.

The extended essay, including the world studies extended essay, offers the opportunity for IB students to investigate a topic of special interest, in the form of a 4,000-word piece of independent research. Students select an area of research from Diploma Programme subjects, or in the case of the interdisciplinary world studies essay from two subjects, and become acquainted with the independent research and writing skills expected at university. This leads to a major piece of formally presented, structured writing, in which ideas and findings are communicated in a reasoned and coherent manner, appropriate to the subject or subjects chosen. It is intended to promote high-level research and writing skills, intellectual discovery and creativity. As an authentic learning experience, the extended essay provides students with an opportunity to engage in personal research on a topic of choice, under the guidance of a supervisor. 

The following articulation of some of the approaches to teaching and learning are for guidance only and demonstrate how the extended essay facilitates the development of these skills. 

The six approaches to teaching are:

• teaching based on inquiry

• teaching focused on conceptual understanding

• teaching developed in local and global contexts

• teaching focused on effective teamwork and collaboration

• teaching differentiated to meet the needs of all learners

• teaching informed by assessment (formative and summative).

The five approaches to learning are:

• thinking skills

• communication skills

• social skills

• self-management skills

• research skills.

The Diploma Programme prides itself on promoting high standards of academic integrity.

Academic integrity in the Diploma Programme is a set of values and behaviours informed by the attributes of the learner profile. In teaching, learning and assessment, academic integrity serves to promote personal integrity, engender respect for the integrity of others and their work, and ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they acquire during their studies.

All coursework—including work submitted for assessment—must be authentic, based on the student’s individual and original ideas with the ideas and work of others fully acknowledged. Assessment tasks that require teachers to provide guidance to students or that require students to work collaboratively must be completed in full compliance with the detailed guidelines provided by the IB for the relevant subjects.

The aims of the extended essay are for students to:

• engage in independent research with intellectual initiative and rigour

• develop research, thinking, self-management and communication skills

• reflect on what has been learned throughout the research and writing process.

In working on the extended essay, students are expected to achieve the following assessment objectives. 

Before embarking on the extended essay, it is important for students to understand:

• the nature and aims of the extended essay, including the requirements

• how the extended essay is implemented in their school

• the different stakeholders involved, and their respective responsibilities

• the extended essay’s place in the core and Diploma Programme

• what is expected from the task.

It is the responsibility of schools and Diploma Programme/extended essay coordinator to ensure that students are familiar with the above, and to introduce concepts such as research methods, academic integrity and technology literacy (using technology responsibly, specifically in this instance when accessing and using internet based sources of information).

Students should also be introduced to the Researcher’s reflection space which will facilitate the planning and monitoring of their progress throughout the research process.

The supervision process

In order for students to be successful in the completion of the extended essay, the process needs to be structured and must incorporate a supervision process of 3–5 recommended hours to include three formal reflection sessions between the student and the supervisor as well as supervision sessions called check-in sessions.

The recording of reflections on the Reflections on planning and progress form is mandatory and must be submitted with the completed extended essay for assessment under criterion E (engagement). To prepare for these sessions and ensure that they are meaningful and purposeful, the student needs to undertake a number of preparatory steps which are outlined in the following section.

Supporting the mandatory reflection sessions

There are three mandatory reflection sessions that are a formal part of the extended essay and should be recorded on the Reflections on planning and progress form. Following each session, students are required to complete the relevant comment section on the form and submit it to their supervisor. The supervisor must then initial and date the form and after the final reflection session, the viva voce, add their own comment. For more information on the protocols for completing and submitting the Reflections on planning and progress form please refer to the section “Protocols on completing and submitting the Reflections on planning and progress form”.

Following the completion of all three sessions, the form will be submitted to the International Baccalaureate along with the completed extended essay. An incomplete form will impact the examiner’s ability to apply assessment criterion E (engagement) and will result in the student receiving a lower mark for this criterion. A mark of 0 is awarded for criterion E when a RPPF is not submitted, or is submitted in a language other than that of the essay.

Submission requirements

After commenting on one full draft, the next version of the essay that the supervisor sees must be the final one submitted to them before the viva voce. This version of the extended essay must be clean; in other words, it must not contain any comments from the supervisor or any other person. Once this version has been submitted to the supervisor and discussed, students are not permitted to make any further changes to it, unless deemed appropriate by the supervisor because of an administrative error. For this reason, it is important that students are advised to ensure that it meets all formatting and submission requirements before they upload it.

Authenticating student work

All extended essays submitted to the IB for assessment must be authenticated by the student and supervisor, and must not include any known instances of suspected or confirmed academic misconduct. All students and supervisors must confirm the authenticity of the work submitted when uploading work to the e-coursework system. Once a student has uploaded the final version of their extended essay to the e-coursework system for assessment, and confirmed the authenticity of it, it is submitted via the system to their supervisor. At this point the supervisor must not allow any retraction of the essay by the student for modification purposes unless there has been an administrative oversight.

The Reflections on planning and progress form is given to the supervisor by the student, signed and dated, and it is the responsibility of the supervisor to upload this to the e-coursework system, add their comment and authenticate it before submitting it to the IB with the already uploaded essay as one portfolio. Further guidance on this is given in the section “Protocols for completing and submitting the Reflections on planning and progress form”.

It is extremely important that supervisors are able to confirm that they have followed the guidance for monitoring the student’s work throughout the process and can, to the best of their knowledge, confirm the authenticity of the work upon final submission (please refer to the Diploma Programme Assessment procedures).

If the supervisor is unable to confirm the authenticity of the work this must be brought to the attention of the Diploma Programme coordinator, who in turn should refer to the Diploma Programme Assessment procedures for guidance. Work that is submitted but does not comply with the expectations and requirements outlined in this publication will be treated as a case of academic misconduct.

When authenticity is in doubt, the supervisor should first discuss this with the student. In addition, one or more of the following actions may be helpful:

• compare the style of writing with work known to be that of the student

• compare the final submission with the first draft of the written work

• check the references cited by the student and the original sources

• interview the student in the presence of a third party

• use one of the many websites set up to prevent plagiarism.

It is the responsibility of supervisors to ensure that all students understand the basic meaning and significance of concepts relating to academic integrity, especially authenticity and intellectual property. Supervisors must ensure that all student work to be assessed is prepared according to the stated requirements and must explain clearly to students that the extended essay must be entirely their own work.

The same piece of work cannot be submitted to meet the requirements of both the extended essay and a subject-specific assessment component.

Protocols for completing and submitting the Reflections on planning and progress form

Completing the Reflections on planning and progress form (RPPF) is a requirement for the submission of the extended essay. It plays an important role in the assessment of the final essay and of the student’s engagement with the process of independent research. The following is offered as guidance for the completion and submission of the form.

Diploma Programme/extended essay coordinators, with the support of their school leadership team, must determine a system for the administration of the RPPF that ensures that both students and supervisors have access to it in order to complete the required summative comments. This system also needs to ensure the integrity of the form.

The maximum total word limit for the three reflections on the RPPF is 500 words. Examiners will not read or assess beyond the maximum limit. Students whose word count exceeds this will compromise the assessment of their reflection as higher order reflections are be more likely to be present in the latter stages of the reflection process.

It should be noted that the RPPF must be completed in the language of the student’s extended essay submission. Please be aware that RPPFs submitted in a language other than that of the essay will be awarded 0 for this criterion. This is in keeping with article 9.3 of the general regulations stating that all components of an assessment must be submitted in the same language of registration.

If the RPPF is not submitted, or is blank, a 0 will be awarded for criterion E.

 The following steps are offered as guidance: 

Initial guidance on research and writing

Supervisors are recommended to advise their students on how to conduct research and write the extended essay, paying particular attention to the following key areas.

When researching the extended essay, students should follow the steps below.

It is important that students understand the distinction between the terms topic, title and research question.

• The topic of the extended essay is the subject, issue or theme that you are investigating within a specific DP subject or world studies area of study. The topic, which develops during the initial thinking about the EE, should later be reflected in the wording of the title.

• The title of the EE is a clear, summative statement that specifically focuses the topic being researched. It appears on the title page. A title should:

  • be short, descriptive and succinct

  • not be phrased as a question

  • use key words that connect with the topic and the DP subject or world studies area of study

  • attract the interest of the reader.

• The research question derives from the title and is expressed as a question that is intended to be answered through researching and writing the EE. It appears on the title page and could also be visible as a header throughout the essay. It should:

  • be clear and focused

  • provide a path through which you can undertake achievable research

  • use key words that connect with the topic, the title, and the DP subject or world studies area of study

  • support the development of an argument.

3. Consider the emerging questions.

The student should now begin posing open-ended questions about their general topic. These questions will usually be framed using the terms “how”, “why” or “to what extent”.

4. Evaluate the question.

Once possible research questions have been posed they should be evaluated. This evaluation should be based on whether the research question is clear, focused, and arguable.

Clear: Will the reader understand the nature of my research? Will it direct the research being undertaken?

Focused: Will the research question be specific enough to allow for exploration within the scope of the task (that is, the number of words and time available)?

Arguable: Does the research question allow for analysis, evaluation and the development of a reasoned argument?

5. Consider research outcomes.

Once a provisional research question has been decided upon students should start thinking about the direction their research might take. This could be in terms of:

• suggesting possible outcomes of the research

• outlining the kind of argument they might make and how the research might support this

• considering options if the research available is not sufficient to support a sustained argument.

The structure of the essay is very important. It helps students to organize the argument, making the best use of the evidence collected.

There are six required elements of the final work to be submitted. 

Please note that the order in which these elements are presented here is not necessarily the order in which they should be written.

Six required elements of the extended essay:

1. Title page

2. Contents page

3. Introduction

4. Body of the essay

5. Conclusion

6. References and bibliography

The extended essay should be written in a clear, correct and formal academic style, appropriate to the subject from which the topic is drawn. Given that the extended essay is a formally written research paper, it should strive to maintain a professional, academic look.

To help achieve this, the following formatting is suggested.

• font, font size and spacing conducive to on-screen marking

• page numbering (mandatory)

• no candidate, supervisor, or school name on the title page, page headers, appendices or acknowledgment pages

• the file size must not be more than 10 MB. (Note that the RPPF is uploaded separately and is not part of the overall file size of the essay.)

Submitting the extended essay in the required format will help set the tone of the essay and will aid readability for on-screen assessment by examiners.

Research practices when working on an extended essay must reflect the principles of academic integrity. The essay must provide the reader with the precise sources of quotations, ideas and points of view through accurate citations, which may be in-text or footnotes, and full references listed in the bibliography, which, regardless of the system used, must ensure the minimum requirements.

Producing accurate references and a bibliography is a skill that students should be seeking to refine as part of the extended essay writing process. Documenting the research in this way is vital: it allows readers to evaluate the evidence for themselves, and it shows the student’s understanding of the importance of the sources used.

Failure to comply with this requirement will be viewed as academic misconduct and will, therefore, be treated as a potential breach of IB regulations.