• MLA Citations for each supporting document (it should be easy for me to know where your supporting document came from)

• Maximum 25 pages (5 pages per supporting document)

• Highlight areas of the supporting document you used

• Recent: Each supporting document must be from within the last 3 years

• The supporting documents must present a range of ideas and views. Therefore, avoid using a single source for the 3 - 5 supporting documents. For example, using only supporting documents published by the chosen organization would not provide balance or objectivity in order to address the research question in a critical and reflective way.

• The 3 - 5 supporting documents must be contemporary in nature and published within a maximum of 3 years prior to the submission of the work to the IB (20th April for May centres and 20th October for November centres).

• The IB recommends that no single supporting document should exceed the equivalent of five A4 pages. This is because the inclusion of overly lengthy supporting documents should be avoided.

• You can use a transcript of an appropriate audio or video source as one of your 3 - 5 supporting documents. If used, this must be from a reliable source and proper citation and referencing are required.

• The relevant parts of each supporting document (used within the business research project and relate directly to the research question) should be appropriately highlighted.

• The supporting documents must form most, if not all, of the information obtained for the written commentary.

• Evidence of the supporting documents must be included in the appendices (which are uploaded separately from the 1,800-word commentary of the business research project. It is important to label each of the 3 - 5 supporting document clearly, e.g., “Supporting Document 1”, “Supporting Document 2”, etc.

• The sources for the 3 - 5 supporting documents must be included in the Bibliography (works cited page). This is required for academic integrity purposes.

• The supporting documents must also be appropriately cited and referenced throughout the written commentary. Whichever referencing system is used, it must enable the reader to locate the original sources easily.

• Additional sources used for theory and tools, such as IB textbooks or class notes, are not considered as part of the 3 - 5 supporting documents, but these must still be appropriately cited and referenced.

• Include the 3 - 5 supporting documents in the appendices (no more than approximately 25 pages in length). These should be combined into a single PDF document and uploaded to IBIS or ManageBac as a separate document for assessment purposes.

Note: The 3 - 5 supporting documents must be included combined as a separate file in order to be uploaded to IBIS or ManageBac for assessment purposes. If you are not sure how to do this, check with your school's IB Diploma Programme Coordinator. Web page URLs are not acceptable as a replacement of attaching the supporting documents for submission of the IA. 

Top tips for showing evidence of primary research

If primary research is used in the business research project, insist on students providing evidence of the primary research they have stated in their Introduction or Methodology of the written commentary. Some suggestions include:

• Evidence to show surveys (questionnaires) have actually been conducted, e.g., copies of surveys that have been physically completed by participants or screenshots of results from online survey providers such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms.

• Email communications with the interviewee(s) from the chosen business organization.

• A letter of acknowledgement from the business organization.

• The business cards / contact details of the interviewees at the business organization

• Appropriate photographic evidence.

• Signed copies of interview transcripts.

Research and Supporting Documents are essential to your analysis and justifying the results of your research question. To achieve the highest levels for each assessment criterion, it is strongly recommended that the supporting documents present a range of ideas and views. For example, the use of three to five documents published by a single business organization would not provide sufficient balance or objectivity.

You must select and attach 3-5 main supporting documents (sources) for analysis

• specifying the URLs alone is insufficient.

• If candidates do not included the supporting documents, this will result in zero (0) marks for both criteria A and C.

• In fact, the IB requires students to upload their supporting documents as a separate PDF file on IBIS.

Aim to use a broad and diverse set of supporting documents.

• Provides opportunities to consider alternative perspectives, support balanced discussions, and improve evaluation (critical and reflective thinking).

They must all be relevant towards answering your research question.

Each of the supporting documents must be dated and not over three years old from the submission date to the IB.

• For May 2024 submissions the earliest date of a supporting document is 20th April 2021.

Each supporting document should not exceed five A4 pages

• Do not include lengthy supporting documents like a complete company annual report.

Highly relevant portions of the supporting documents should be highlighted.

If you use an audio/video source you must provide the transcript of the section used. Eg. you could use this youtube video:

Is Toyota Late To EVs? - YouTube 

You may use sources in a different language, however parts used must be translated.

The most important point is that students must ensure the chosen sources are of direct relevance and address the specific research question.

If you are working with a small business or sole trader, you must work in cooperation directly with the business, with their knowledge and prior approval. ‘ You may: 

• Conduct an interview with a manager or some employees from the organization 

Must have input and involvement of the business organization itself

You may use this letter template if you need a letter to give businesses for primary evidence (put your own name where it says “student’s name”)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WyHYZ5QfurfynoNnFdNnZlyxVpCPECpc/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100138329983674579490&rtpof=true&sd=true 

Primary Sources are not compulsory

Primary sources for supporting documents

• Competitor analysis - analysis of local competitors, such as price comparisons

• Focus groups

• Footfall count

• Interviews (with full transcripts provided, and authenticated)

• Observation checklists

• Position/Perception mapping

• Questionnaires (with supporting evidence provided)

Read more about the use of primary market research for the Internal Assessment here.

Sometimes easier to complete the IA with only or mostly secondary resources. Primary research should only be used if:

1. Adds value to the research question.

2. Complements the secondary research that has been conducted.

Suitable primary research can also include:

• University lecturers

• Journalists

• Government Officials

• Business people/Entrepreneurs

Must have academic rigor (survey of friends probably doesn’t count)

• Academic journals and publications

• Economic key performance indicators, e.g., economic growth, unemployment, and/or inflation

  • Trading Economics (www.tradingeconomics.com)

  • CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook) 

• Average earnings in local area

• Financial accounts / statements

• Business plans

• Company annual reports

• Company website (extracts)

• DVD / video documentary

• Radio programs

• Market analyses

• Market research surveys

• Mission statement

• Newspaper articles

  • Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/) 

  • Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/)

  • The Economist (https://www.economist.com/) 

  • Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/) 

  • Bloomberg Businessweek (https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek)

• Newsletters

• Trade journals

• Online Databases / Encyclopaedias

• Sale turnover figures

Note: Each of the supporting documents must be dated and not over three years old from the submission date to the IB.

Read more about suitable secondary market research as supporting documents for the Internal Assessment here.

Students must refrain from including lengthy supporting documents (such as a complete company annual report). Instead, the IB recommends that each supporting document should not exceed five A4 pages (see guide, page 55). Students are discouraged from uploading supporting documents with many pages (such as the entirety of a company annual report).

Highly relevant portions of the supporting documents should be highlighted.

Aim to use a broad and diverse set of supporting documents. This will provide opportunities to consider alternative perspectives, support balanced discussions, and improve evaluation (critical and reflective thinking).

The 3 - 5 supporting documents must be included; specifying the URLs alone is insufficient. If candidates do not included the supporting documents, this will result in zero (0) marks for both criteria A and C. In fact, the IB requires students to upload their supporting documents as a separate PDF file on IBIS.

Is it a source document?

Pragmatically, a source document is considered a supporting document if it is used 2 or more times in the business research project. So, any additional source document (if included in the IA) must only be used once. Furthermore, these additional sources are not bound by the 3-year contemporary rule applied to the supporting documents.

Moderators have often commented that many students include more than 5 supporting documents in their IA, and are not credited for this. Having more than 5 SDs can also raise issues related to academic integrity.

Furthermore, including more than 5 supporting documents will automatically mean that the maximum mark awarded under Criterion B is 1.

Hence, pragmatically speaking, if a student uses a source multiple times, this should be considered as a supporting document - after all, the 1,800 word business research project is based upon 3 to 5 supporting documents. Using any other source (just the once) is therefore not considered a SD.

An example might be the use of an official government website to get the population size or unemployment rate to add context to the research project. The only exception to this rule is a textbook (which is not a SD and can be used multiple times for tools, theories, techniques, and terminology).

For students relying on the use of secondary research sources for large organizations, the use of company annual reports can be a highly valuable resource.

For example, a company's annual report is an incredible resource, however they can be very long, even over 200 pages. If this is the case, only include the relevant pages you used and highlight the specific areas. For example for BMW:

• BMW's mission statement

• Data for the German carmaker's profit and loss account (showing 5 years of data)

• Data for the company's balance sheet (again, for a 5-year period)

• BMW's market share in the electric vehicles industry

• An outline of BMW's strategic plan to increase its market share

So, a company annual report as a single support document can provide students with significant depth of data and information to help address the research question.

The following sources can be used for the internal assessment, but are not considered to be supporting documents.

• Textbooks (for business management tools and theories)

• Revision guides / Study guides

• Educational journals, e.g. Business Review magazine (Hodder Education)

• Class notes

However, if used, these must be directly relevant to the research question. All sources must be referenced and recorded in the bibliography.

Please also note that the 3-year contemporary rule does not apply to the above additional sources.