Economics Extended Essay structure: sections, criteria and word count

At a glance

The structure, section by section

1. Title page

Required by the IB · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Your personal code, the research question, the subject and the word count, plus a statement when explanatory footnotes are counted.

1. Enter your IB personal code.
2. Leave out your name, your supervisor's name, your session number and your school.
3. Paste the research question exactly as it stands in the introduction.
4. Name your subject: Economics.
5. Insert the word count from the counter.
6. Add the footnote statement if you used explanatory notes.

2. Contents page

Required by the IB · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Headings with page numbers.

1. Generate it from your headings.
2. Start page numbers on the page after it.
3. Regenerate it after your last edit.

3. Introduction

Required by the IB · Criterion: A, B

The research question; the issue, policy or event and its date; why it matters now; the theory to be applied or tested; the data sources and method.

1. State the issue, policy or event, when it happened and why it matters now.
2. Check that it happened no more than 5 years before you began your research, as the Economics guide asks.
3. Narrow the focus, and check that the data you need exist.
4. State the research question.
5. Name the theory you will apply or test.
6. Outline your data sources and method.
7. Choose a topic that does not extend your IA, and reuse no IA article or data.

4. Literature review and theory

Required by the IB (Required as content; a separate heading is Convention) · Criterion: A (methods), B

What existing research and theory say about the issue; often woven into the analysis.

1. Summarise the most relevant research.
2. Set out the theory and its assumptions.
3. Note where sources disagree.

5. Data and method

Rewarded by a criterion (Criterion A rewards methods that fit the subject, and visuals that are labelled and referenced) · Criterion: A

Where each dataset comes from, how it was gathered or selected, and its limits.

1. Describe each data source.
2. Justify each method against the question.
3. Describe any survey or interview design and its sample.
4. For a micro topic, surveys and expert interviews can add primary data; macro and global topics usually rely on published data.

6. Analysis by theme

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: C

Theory and diagrams applied to the data, theme by theme, each ending in an interim conclusion.

1. Give each strand of theory its own subsection.
2. Draw and explain each diagram for your case.
3. Use the data to test the theory.
4. Close each subsection with an interim conclusion.
5. Label each diagram and graph clearly, acknowledge others' work and refer to each in the text.

7. Discussion and evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion (Criterion D rewards evaluation that is woven through the body) · Criterion: D

The reliability of the data, the theory's assumptions, other perspectives and stakeholders.

1. Question each data source where you use it.
2. Test the theory's assumptions against your case.
3. Weigh the perspectives of the stakeholders involved.

8. Conclusion

Required by the IB · Criterion: C, D

The answer, its limits and the unresolved questions.

1. Answer the research question.
2. State the limits of your evidence.
3. Name the questions that remain open.

9. References or bibliography

Required by the IB (Also an academic integrity rule: every source must be acknowledged) · Criterion: A (structure) · Outside the word count

Every source in 1 style.

1. Use 1 style throughout.
2. List every source you cited, including data banks, images and AI output.
3. Add URLs and access dates for online sources.
4. Check that each in-text citation has an entry.

10. Appendices

Common practice (Optional, and examiners need not read appendices; the signed external mentor form is the one required item) · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

Raw data or survey instruments, and the mentor form; nothing the argument depends on.

1. Add only material the essay can stand without, since examiners need not read appendices.
2. Refer to each appendix from the body.
3. Insert the signed mentor form if you had a mentor.

11. Reflection sessions log

Required by the IB (The 3 sessions are mandatory and are recorded on the RPF, which is uploaded separately from the essay) · Outside the word count · Submitted separately

The 3 formal reflection sessions, each with its month, your DP year (1 or 2) and your supervisor's initials.

1. After the first reflection session, log its month and your DP year.
2. Log the interim session the same way.
3. Log the viva voce as the third session; it runs 20 to 30 minutes, after your supervisor has read the final version.
4. Ask your supervisor to initial each row; the form carries initials only.
5. If you are retaking, record the current year as DP year 2.
6. Leave informal check-ins off the log.
7. Check that all 3 rows are complete before your supervisor initials and dates the form.

12. RPF reflective statement

Required by the IB (A mandated form, uploaded separately from the essay and marked under criterion E) · Criterion: E · Outside the word count · Submitted separately

Up to 500 words, written after the viva voce, evaluating how the EE shaped you as a learner and which skills you will carry forward.

1. Keep dated notes after each session, ideally in a researcher's reflection space.
2. Reread them after the viva.
3. Evaluate specific decisions and turning points, and keep any account of the process brief.
4. Show how you grew and where you will use the skills.
5. Write every word yourself; an AI-written reflection counts as fabrication.
6. Write in the essay's language and stop at 500 words.

What counts toward the limit

Counted: the introduction, body and conclusion, including quotations and explanatory footnotes or endnotes. Left out: the title page, acknowledgements, contents, page headers, maps, charts, diagrams, annotated illustrations, tables, equations, calculations, citations, reference notes, the bibliography, appendices, the RPF statement and a footnote that gives a quotation's original-language text. The guide does not mention section headings, captions or table titles, so the counter leaves them out as well.

The limit: 4,000 words, plus a 500-word RPF statement. Examiners stop reading at the limit. RPF statement: up to 500 words, counted apart from the rest.

Graphs and visuals

• Theory diagrams Drawn, very common
  Relevant to the question, legible and clearly labelled. Draw and explain each for your case; diagrams sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Time-series and comparison charts from published data Plotted, common
  Label each chart, acknowledge the data source and refer to the chart in the text; charts sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Data tables Table, common
  Number each table and refer to it in the text; tables sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Calculations of elasticities, growth rates or indices Math, occasional
  Show the working; calculations sit outside the 4,000 words.
• Survey pie charts Plotted, rare
  Rarely appropriate.
• Maps Map, rare
  An estimate. Give a scale and key.
• Photos Image, rare
  Publisher guidance reports examiner criticism of excess irrelevant photos under the old model. Frequencies here are estimates; no exemplar counts exist.

The frequencies are our estimates, from what the IB guide expects and what teachers advise. We did not count them in marked work.

Citations

The IB sets no style. Use 1 standard style consistently, with at least the author, date, title and pages or URL, plus access dates for online sources. Some study guides suggest Harvard for humanities essays.

The workspace keeps your sources and writes the bibliography in Harvard to start with. You can switch to APA 7th, MLA 9th, Chicago author-date or Chicago notes (footnotes) at any point.

Pitfalls

• Choosing an issue older than the 5-year window the Economics guide sets, or writing about future events.
• Setting a scope too broad for 4,000 words, or describing data without analysis or evaluation.
• Reusing IA articles or data, or treating the EE as an extension of the IA.
• Drawing diagrams with no evident relevance to the question, or illegible ones.
• Writing past 4,000 words, or past 500 in the RPF statement: examiners read no further.

The workspace is free with an account, and it never writes or rewrites your text. What we will and will not do with your coursework →

Sources

• Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (IB; published Feb 2025, updated May, Aug, Nov 2025)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published Feb 2025; updated May, Aug, Nov 2025)
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2027 (published Feb 2025; updated May, Aug, Nov 2025), hosted at chmsib.com
• IB, Economics guide, first assessment 2024 (published Feb 2020; updated May 2020, Aug 2020, Oct 2020, Oct 2022), hosted by Choithram International School
• IB, Economics guide, first assessment 2022 (published Feb 2020; updated May 2020), hosted by UWC East Africa
• IB, Extended essay guide, first assessment 2018 (published Feb 2016, updated May 2019), including subject-specific guidance

The IB documents behind this page, checked 29 October 2026. The linked ones are on ibo.org; the others are IB documents we read in copies hosted elsewhere, so we name them without a link. Everything above is in our own words: the official wording is in your subject guide, which your coordinator can give you. LimeAdmissions is independent of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which has not endorsed this page. Every coursework structure →