Extended essay

If you’re reading this because your teacher found plagiarism in your extended essay, don’t worry. It’s not the end of a life. As someone who has worked with many IB students over the years, I can tell you this happens more often than you think.

Let’s face it: even the most diligent IB student may be derailed by plagiarism, one of the most frequent errors in an extended essay. To help you in avoiding plagiarism in the EE while making the process easy and stress-free, I want to provide some useful tools and techniques.

originality in EE is the lifeblood of a good IB project. Many students, rightly, concentrate on organization, research, and citations, but they often ignore something that may really set their work apart: their unique voice. I believe originality distinguishes the “good” extended essays from the “great” ones.

Although writing an IB extended essay may seem intimidating, I can tell you from experience that effective time management is the secret to success. Using the correct tactics early on makes the entire process much smoother, from planning to submission.

At first, writing an IB Extended Essay can be hard, especially if you have a lot of time to do it and a blank page. And I can say with certainty that picking the right extended essay research method makes the whole writing process go more smoothly and with a lot less stress.

Data collection is often the most challenging part when students first plan their science EE. Trust me; you’re not the only one who feels that way. It’s one of the trickiest parts of the essay but also the most important. You should think and act like a real scientist in science extended essays.

One of the biggest mistakes I see IB students make is assuming that data analysis only belongs in the sciences. That’s just not true. In fact, data analysis in extended essays can (and should) be used in every subject—just in different ways.

You’ve probably heard terms like extended essay and MYP Personal Project used often if you’re enrolled in the IB curriculum. You may also wonder how these components relate to your academic career.

Using graphs, charts, and tables in your EE will enhance the quality and clarity of your analysis in addition to providing visual appeal. Having helped with hundreds of students on their IB Extended Essays, I can attest that the right use of graphics may greatly improve your writing.

With so many sources available, how do you keep track of what’s useful? From my experience as an IB writer, one of the best tools for managing research effectively is an annotated bibliography. It’s a structured way to engage with the material and refine your argument.