EE Structure, Presentation and Academic Honesty

Information derived from IBO EE website

NB The EE is a criterion-referenced assessment; examiners assess the quality of work solely on the
extent to which it is seen to have met the stated criteria!

Structure
Please note there are no criteria specific to any particular section of the written EE!

However, for the structure, we can surely refer to Criterion D: Presentation which assesses the extent to which the
presentation follows the standard format expected for academic writing and the extent to which this aids effective
communication.

The structure of the essay is very important! It helps students to organise the argument, making the best use of the
evidence collected. There are six required elements of the final work to be submitted. Further details about each
element are given in the links below. Please note that the order in which these elements are presented here is not
necessarily the order in which they should be written.

The 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 (see also the relevant links in the Academic Honesty section below)

Although you may have seen an abstract in exemplar material, this is not required in the ‘new’ version of the EE!

The best-presented EE’s will provide clear evidence for Criterion C that;
1) Structure: the structure of the essay is compatible with the expected conventions of a research paper in
the subject for which the essay has been submitted. (Examiners, supervisors and students are advised to check the
guidance given in the Extended essay guide for the relevant subject.)

2) Layout: title page, table of contents, page numbers, section headings (where appropriate), effective
inclusion of illustrative materials (tables, graphs, illustrations, appropriately labelled) and quotations, bibliography and
referencing.
- The referencing system should be correctly and consistently applied and should contain the minimum
information as detailed in the Extended essay guide.If referencing does not meet this minimum standard work
should be considered as a case of possible academic misconduct.
- The extended essay has not exceeded the maximum word limit. If the essay exceeds 4,000 words,
examiners should not read or assess beyond the maximum 4,000-word limit. Students who exceed the word
limit will compromise the assessment of their extended essay across all criteria. For example, in criterion B, any
knowledge and understanding demonstrated beyond the 4,000-word limit will be treated as if it were not
present; in criterion C, any analysis, discussion or evaluation made beyond the 4,000-word limit will be treated
as if the point had not been made. Given the holistic nature of the assessment criteria, students who write in
excess of the word limit will self-penalise across all criteria.

Formatting
 EE Structure, Presentation and Academic Honesty

Information derived from IBO EE website

NB The EE is a criterion-referenced assessment; examiners assess the quality of work solely on the
extent to which it is seen to have met the stated criteria!
Again, there are no criteria specific to any particular section of the written EE, but beyond maintaining the emphasis
outlined previously for Criterion D: Presentation, we can surely refer to the additional information on Presentation.

The EE 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 required:

● the use of 12-point, readable font
● double spacing
● page numbering
● no candidate or school name on the title page or page headers.

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.

This section of the EE website also provides further information about;

1) Word counts
2) Illustrations
3) Tables
4) Footnotes and Endnotes (NB. KGV recommends APA Referencing Style to avoid possible problems
here)
5) Appendices

Academic Honesty
Research practices when working on an EE must reflect the principles of academic honesty. 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 are met (see Effective Citing and Referencing link below).

Producing accurate references and a bibliography is a skill that students should be seeking to refine as part of the EE
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.

1) Effective Citing and Referencing

2) Bibliography
3) Citations
4) Referencing
5) Referencing online materials