Extended Essay: Getting started

The nature of the extended essay

“Whichever subject is chosen, the extended essay is concerned with exploring a specific research question through interpreting and evaluating evidence, and constructing reasoned arguments. In undertaking the extended essay students model many of the elements of academic research by locating their topic within a broader disciplinary context, or issue in the case of a world studies extended essay, justifying the relevance of their research and critically evaluating the overall strength of the arguments made and sources used. Guided through this process by a supervisor, students are encouraged to reflect on insights gained, evaluate decisions, and respond to challenges encountered during the research.”

From “Overview of the extended essay” in the Extended Essay Guide

The following is taken from "The Overview of the Extended Essay" in the Extended Essay Guide: Online, (2016):

Key features of the extended essay

• The extended essay is compulsory for all students taking the Diploma Programme and is an option for course students.
• A student must achieve a D grade or higher to be awarded the Diploma.
• The extended essay is externally assessed and, in combination with the grade for theory of knowledge, contributes up to three points to the total score for the IB Diploma.
• The extended essay process helps prepare students for success at university and in other pathways beyond the Diploma Programme.
• When choosing a subject for the extended essay, students must consult the list of available Diploma Programme subjects published in the Handbook of procedures for the Diploma Programme for the session in question.
• The extended essay is a piece of independent research on a topic chosen by the student in consultation with a supervisor in the school.
• It is presented as a formal piece of sustained academic writing containing no more than 4,000 words accompanied by a reflection form of no more than 500 words.
• It is the result of approximately 40 hours of work by the student.
• Students are supported by a supervision process recommended to be 3–5 hours, which includes three mandatory reflection sessions.
• The third and final mandatory reflection session is the viva voce, which is a concluding interview with the supervising teacher.

A note for students writing in Chinese, Korean and Japanese:

Students writing their extended essay in Japanese, Korean or Chinese should use the following conversions.

• Japanese: 1 word = approximately 2 Japanese characters (upper limit 8,000 characters)

• Korean: 1 word = 1 word

• Chinese: 1 word = approximately 1.2 Chinese characters (upper limit 4,800 characters)

When typing in Chinese, Korean or Japanese word processing software is likely to include the number of characters and punctuation in the word count. Students are asked to not include punctuation in the word count for assessed work. The word count should only take into account the number of characters typed.

(Extended essay guide, p. 83)