Core · Research questions, evidence and academic integrity

IB Diploma Programme Extended Essay 拓展论文 (EE). The EE is part of the core of the Diploma: every student writes one. It is an independent research project in one subject, written as an essay of up to 4,000 words, with about 40 hours of work. A teacher at your school is your supervisor 指导老师: they guide you but do not write for you. You meet them for three reflection sessions 反思会谈, and the last one is a short interview after you hand in the essay.

In November 1923, one US dollar bought about 4.2 trillion German marks. Workers were paid twice a day and ran to the shops before prices rose again; children played with bundles of banknotes. Why did it happen? "The consequences of the First World War" is a topic for a whole book. "Did the reparations that Germany had to pay under the Treaty of Versailles cause the 1923 hyperinflation more than the German central bank's own decisions?" is a question a student can actually answer in 4,000 words. Most of the work of a good EE is turning a big topic into a question like that.

Must-know for the Extended Essay:

A good research question 研究问题 is:

• focused: one case, one period, one angle, not a whole field;
• arguable: more than one reasonable answer, so you must argue, not just describe;
• researchable: you can reach enough sources or collect enough data in the time you have.

• Primary sources 一手资料 are the raw material: documents, data you collect, a novel, an experiment.
• Secondary sources 二手资料 are what experts have written about it. Use them to show the debate, not to copy their answers.
• For each source ask: who made it, when, for whom, and how reliable is it?
• Every paragraph should move the argument forward. Description that does not help answer the question wastes words.

Academic integrity 学术诚信 means being honest about where every idea comes from.

• Give a citation 引用 every time you use someone else's words, ideas, data or images, at the point where you use them.
• Use one citation style consistently, and list every source in the bibliography 参考书目.
• Paraphrasing still needs a citation. Changing a few words in someone else's sentence is not your own writing.
• Do not let anyone else, including an AI tool, write the essay for you. If you use an AI tool in your research, follow your school's rules and say how you used it.

Your written reflections 反思 should show real thinking about your research: a decision you made, why you made it and what it taught you. For example: "The central bank's records were not available in a language I could read, so I narrowed my question to the reparations side and used two historians' work on the bank. I learned that a question must fit the sources I can actually use."

• Up to 4,000 words; about 40 hours; a supervisor; three reflection sessions.
• A research question that is focused, arguable and researchable.
• Primary and secondary sources, evaluated and used to argue.
• A word plan that serves the argument.
• Citations where you use sources; a bibliography; your own work.
• Reflections that describe real decisions and what you learned.