Extended Essay
The pre-research stage (or exploration stage) is when you start learning as much as you can about your topic. Your goal is to narrow it down and get a deeper understanding, so you can build a strong research question.
A good research question should be:
Focused – clear about what you want to answer.
Worth answering – your answer should add something new, not just repeat what’s already known.
Doable in 4,000 words – not too broad, not too narrow.
Possible to research – with the time, resources, and methods you actually have.
Aligned with IB rules – fits subject guidelines and IB expectations.
Arguable and analytical – leading to analysis, not just description.
This stage can feel messy and even frustrating. You may go in circles, change your ideas, or realize your “great” question won’t work. That’s normal! Research isn’t neat.
For example:
You might discover your question has already been fully answered.
Or you might realize your question can’t be answered with the resources you have.
In those cases, you’ll need to rethink your question.
Don’t try to read everything in full detail yet. Instead:
Skim read articles and books to get the big picture.
Use secondary sources to see what experts say.
Follow citations and references to find primary sources.
Look up keywords in articles to find related work.
Read abstracts and conclusions (summaries at the beginning and end).
Notice charts, tables, and images to understand how arguments are presented.
Record your thoughts in your Researcher’s Reflection Space (RRS) – include notes, ideas, quotes, and questions. These quick notes will save you time later.
As you learn more, begin shaping a possible research question. Ask yourself:
How could I answer this?
What information will I need?
How will I find it?
You can also start making a rough outline or mind map of your essay:
Possible sections and subsections.
What kind of evidence or points might go where.
How your argument could flow.
At first, it will be incomplete – that’s okay. As you read more, you’ll fill in the gaps. By the time you’re ready to write, your outline should be detailed enough to guide your essay smoothly.
Once you have a workable research question, the next step is to think about:
What information and evidence you already have.
What information and evidence you still need.
How and where you can find that missing information.
This is the research and data-gathering stage.
Even though it sounds like a separate step, this stage often overlaps with others:
You might start collecting data while you’re still exploring ideas and shaping your research question.
You might also start writing parts of your essay while you’re still gathering information (sometimes your notes end up becoming actual sentences in your essay!).
The IB model shows arrows pointing back and forth between stages for a reason: research, writing, and exploring are not always in a straight line. You’ll often move back and forth between them.
At this point, you’ll return to some of the sources you skimmed earlier—but this time read them more carefully. Use your Researcher’s Reflection Space (RRS) to track which sources are worth closer attention. Ask yourself:
Does this source directly help me answer my research question?
Or is it just “interesting” but not really useful?
If it’s not relevant, jot a note in your RRS in case you want to revisit it later, but don’t waste time on it now.
Reading what others have already said about your topic is essential. Secondary research helps you:
Give background and context in your introduction.
Show how your own research connects to existing knowledge.
Prove that your investigation is worth doing.
Gather information, data, and arguments you can use to analyze and evaluate your findings.
Stick to reliable, academic sources.
Sites like Wikipedia or news articles can give you ideas, but don’t rely on them—go back to the original sources they cite.
The closer you get to the original research or data, the stronger and more accurate your essay will be.
Sometimes you’ll find information that disagrees with your main sources. Don’t ignore it! Contradictions can:
Help you show controversies or debates in the field.
Give you a chance to analyze and explain why some sources are stronger or more convincing than others.
Strengthen your essay if you directly address and evaluate them.
Secondary research (reading what others have already done) shows what is already known—but there are always gaps. When you spot those gaps, that’s where primary research (your own data collection, experiments, surveys, etc.) may come in. This is how your essay contributes something new to the field.
Primary research means collecting your own original data—information that didn’t exist before you gathered it. You then analyze this data using the tools and methods of your subject to create new knowledge.
You use primary research if:
Secondary research (what others have written) isn’t enough to answer your research question.
You need to fill gaps in knowledge or expand on what is already known.
Depending on your subject, you might collect data through:
Experiments
Investigations or fieldwork
Interviews
When you include primary research in your essay, you must explain:
How you collected your data.
Why you chose those methods.
Who was involved (if people participated).
What results you got.
Any limitations or biases (things that might make your results less reliable).
Primary research usually falls into one of two categories:
Quantitative Research (numbers and data you can measure and analyze statistically)
Example: results from experiments.
Example: survey data with multiple-choice or closed questions.
Qualitative Research (opinions, experiences, or open responses you analyze for meaning, not numbers)
Example: interview responses.
Example: survey data with open-ended questions.
Both can be valuable—sometimes they are even combined for a fuller picture.
An investigation means looking directly at original sources to discover what is happening (or happened) and to what extent. You can also collect and analyze data from these sources to support your argument.
Examples of original sources include:
Maps
Photographs
Historical documents (like diaries, letters)
Policies or laws
Original works of art
Interviews are another way to collect original data. These can be with one person or a small group (called a focus group) and may be done:
Face to face
By email
Over the phone
Through online chat
Face-to-face interviews are often best because you can ask follow-up questions in real time.
To make an interview successful, you need to:
Write questions that connect directly to your research question and what you’ve already learned from secondary sources.
Test (or “trial”) your questions beforehand.
Decide the best way to conduct and record the interview.
Tell the interviewee what the purpose of the interview is and how their responses will be used.
In some cases, give the interviewee the questions in advance.
Promise anonymity if requested—and make sure you keep that promise.
Your questions should be carefully written to get the kind of answers that will help you answer your research question.
Writing your essay is the final stage of the process, but it connects back to all the earlier steps. You may start drafting parts before you finish your research, and as you write, new questions may pop up. That’s normal—you’ll often go back and forth between research and writing.
Your extended essay is a formal research paper, so it should be written professionally. But remember: it’s also an assessment, so follow both the general IB guidelines and the subject-specific rules for your chosen subject.
Think about your reader (in this case, the examiner). Good readers make predictions about what they’ll read next, and your essay should guide them with signposts. These include:
A clear title and research question
A table of contents
Headings and subheadings
Captions for illustrations, tables, and graphics
A clear introduction and conclusion
The more you guide your reader, the easier it is for them to follow your ideas—and the better your essay comes across.
One way to structure your writing is with PEELL:
P – State your Point.
E – Give Evidence (quote, data, summary, example).
E – Explain how the evidence supports your point.
L – Link your point back to your research question.
L – Link forward to your next point.
As you draft:
Fit your evidence into your outline.
Check if you have enough support for each point. If not, consider dropping or reworking it.
Plan roughly how many words each section will need. This helps you see if a section is too broad or too thin.
Only include tables, charts, and images that directly support your argument. If you don’t discuss them in the text, leave them out.
Follow the conventions of your subject:
Some subjects use lots of direct quotes.
Others prefer summarizing and paraphrasing.
If you summarize someone else’s work over several sentences, make it clear:
Where your summary starts
That it’s still part of the same summary
Where it ends
That it all comes from the same source
At the start, you asked a research question. Your conclusion must come back to it.
You may not have a single “right” answer—that’s okay.
What matters is that your discussion is analytical, thoughtful, and well-argued.
Even if your answer is uncertain or open-ended, you can still do well if your reasoning is strong.
Your extended essay must be 4,000 words or fewer.
The examiner will stop reading after 4,000 words—anything beyond that won’t count toward your grade.
If your essay is too long, the examiner might not even reach your argument or conclusion.
Use your writing software’s word count tool often to keep track.
Some parts of your essay don’t count toward the word limit (like the bibliography, table of contents, captions, etc.). Check the official IB guide for the full list.
Subtract these excluded words from your total, and report the corrected number on your title page.
There’s no minimum word count, but essays that are too short may miss important analysis and lose marks.
A short essay may mean:
You didn’t fully answer the research question.
Your topic or question is too narrow.
In some subjects (like math), essays are often shorter because equations don’t count toward the word limit.
In most subjects, though, you’ll probably use most of the 4,000 words.
If your essay is too long, you’ll need to cut unnecessary detail and tighten your writing.
If it’s too short, you may need to expand your question, add more evidence, or rethink your approach.
Always check the word count after your draft and adjust before submitting it to your supervisor or uploading the final version.
The hardest part of writing is often the last step—reviewing your essay carefully. You may feel relieved just to be done, but polishing your work makes a big difference.
Proofreading can feel boring, but it’s worth it.
You must do this yourself. Others can’t proofread, edit, or correct your essay for you.
Spellcheck and grammar tools can help, but they don’t catch everything (and sometimes give bad advice).
Ask yourself:
Does the essay flow smoothly from one point/section to the next?
Does the introduction match the essay you actually wrote (not just what you planned months ago)?
Does the conclusion match the evidence and arguments in your essay?
Read your essay aloud (or record yourself and listen back). If you stumble, the wording may be unclear.
Make a “sandbox copy” (a practice version with a different file name) and try:
Enlarging or changing the font.
Changing the font color.
These tricks make your brain notice mistakes you’d usually skip over.
Use “search” to check for common errors you know you make (like there/their).
Print out a paper copy—your eyes catch errors on paper that you might miss on screen.
Before submission, save your essay as a PDF and carefully check:
Table of contents page numbers.
Placement of illustrations, graphics, and captions.
Consistent font and spacing.
No widows (a word/line stranded at the top of a page).
No orphans (a heading or single line stranded at the bottom of a page).
If you make corrections, save another PDF, check again, and label the final version clearly (e.g. YourName_EE_Final.pdf).
Once your essay is finalized, you’ll complete your final reflection session and write your RPPF (Reflections on Planning and Progress Form)—the last part of the Extended Essay process.
Criteria and Rubrics
The legacy criteria have been amended and restructured, with a new maximum mark of 30.
Criterion A—Framework for the essay: research question, research methods, structure (6 marks)
Criterion B—Knowledge and understanding (6 marks)
Criterion C—Analysis and line of argument (6 marks)
Criterion D—Discussion and evaluation (8 marks)
Criterion E—Reflection: evaluative; growth (4 marks)