Interdisciplinary 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, both subjects, the framework and the word count.

1. Enter your IB personal code.
2. Leave out your name, your supervisor's name, your session number and your school.
3. Choose the 2 DP subjects. ESS and Literature and performance cannot be used, and studying at least 1 of the 2 in your DP is strongly recommended.
4. Choose 1 of the 5 frameworks. It steers your inquiry and is not marked directly.
5. Paste the research question exactly as it stands in the introduction.
6. Choose English, French or Spanish as the language of the essay.
7. Insert the word count from the counter, add the footnote statement if you used explanatory notes, and check that both subjects and the framework appear on the page.

2. Acknowledgements or dedication

Common practice (Optional, uncounted and unassessed) · Outside the word count · Only when it applies

Thanks or a dedication with no identifying names.

1. Decide whether you need it.
2. Remove any name that identifies you, your supervisor or your school.
3. Keep it to a few lines.

3. 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.

4. Introduction

Required by the IB · Criterion: A, B, C

The topic and its importance, the background a reader needs, the focus and scope, your sources and approach, the research question and a preview of the argument.

1. State the topic and why it is worth investigating.
2. Say why an interdisciplinary approach is needed and which framework fits.
3. Give only the background a reader needs.
4. Write the research question as a question.
5. Set out your approach and main sources.
6. Preview the line of argument.
7. Revise this section once the body is done.

5. Introduction: rationale

Rewarded by a criterion (Part of the introduction) · Criterion: A

Why the question needs both subjects, and a research question that shows both.

1. State what each subject contributes.
2. Justify why the question needs both.
3. Phrase the research question so both subjects are visible.
4. Show that the combination makes the answer possible, even if the balance between the subjects is uneven.

6. Methods

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: A

Methods drawn from both subjects, each used with its subject's conventions.

1. Name the methods you take from each subject.
2. Justify each against the question.
3. Follow each subject's conventions where you use its methods.
4. Explain how you chose your sources.

7. Literature review and concepts

Rewarded by a criterion (The review itself is required in every EE) · Criterion: A (methods), B

Sources, terms and concepts from both subjects.

1. Review sources in both subjects.
2. Define key terms in each subject's language.
3. Note where the 2 subjects use a term differently.

8. Body: analysis

Rewarded by a criterion (This is the body, which the IB requires) · Criterion: C

Findings read through both lenses.

1. Analyse the evidence with tools from both subjects.
2. Show how each subject's findings inform the other.
3. Build the integration as the argument proceeds.
4. Number each figure and table and refer to it in the text.

9. Discussion and evaluation

Rewarded by a criterion · Criterion: D

Where the subjects meet, and an evaluation of the approach.

1. Bring both subjects' findings together.
2. Weigh what the combination revealed.
3. Evaluate the strengths and limits of the interdisciplinary approach.

10. Conclusion

Required by the IB · Criterion: C, D

The answer to the research question, a synthesis, the limitations, the questions left open and no new material.

1. Answer the research question directly.
2. Draw the main findings together.
3. State the limitations.
4. Name questions that remain open.
5. Check that it matches the body and adds nothing new.

11. 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 used, in 1 standard style chosen by the school.

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

12. 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

Supporting material only: raw data, full texts and the mentor form.

1. Include only material the argument can stand without.
2. Refer to each appendix from the body.
3. Insert the signed mentor form if you had a mentor.

13. 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.

14. 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, including what working across 2 subjects taught you.

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 working across 2 subjects changed your thinking and how you grew.
5. Name the skills you will carry into other work.
6. Write every word yourself, 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

• Tables of data Table, common
  Follows your 2 subjects. Number, title and refer to each in the text; tables sit outside the word count.
• Graphs and charts from data Plotted, common
  Follows your 2 subjects. Apply each subject's conventions where you use that subject; charts sit outside the count.
• Diagrams and annotated illustrations Drawn, occasional
  Follows your 2 subjects. Keep argument out of the annotations.
• Maps Map, rare
  Follows your 2 subjects. Give a scale and key, and refer to the map in the text.
• Artworks, stills, photos, screenshots Image, occasional
  Follows your 2 subjects. Identify and cite each one; keep the file under 10 MB.
• Equations and worked calculations Math, occasional
  Follows your 2 subjects. Equations sit outside the count. No interdisciplinary exemplar data exists yet.

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

Citations

1 style for the whole essay, chosen by the school. Where your 2 subjects lean to different styles, pick 1 and keep it. Quote a source in another language in translation in the body, with the original in an uncounted footnote.

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

Pitfalls

• Using ESS or Literature and performance as 1 of the 2 subjects, or writing in a language other than English, French or Spanish.
• Running 2 parallel studies that never meet: criteria C and D reward integration that develops through the argument.
• Carrying over World Studies habits, such as building the essay around a global theme or a required local and global context.
• Treating the framework as assessed content, or forcing every word of its name into the topic.
• 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, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• IB, "DP extended essay updates" (last updated 19 Feb 2026; also carries the list of courses with updates)
• Diploma Programme Assessment procedures 2025 (published Sept 2024; updated Nov 2024, Feb 2025, May 2025)
• World Studies Extended Essay (IB page)

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 →