Advice (and Warnings) from the IB
Advice from the IB on Referencing and Citations
On this page find advice from the IB on referencing work from other persons used in your essay. See:
Documentation Checklist
Use this checklist from IB to make sure you've done a complete job of referencing all the sources in your EE.
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A checklist to use in order to make sure you have done a complete job of referencing any work from other persons used in the project or essay that is being submitted to IB for assessment.
'Acknowledging the Work of Another Person' from IB Extended Essay Guide
Students must acknowledge all sources used in work submitted to IB for assessment.
Diploma Programme students submit work for assessment in a variety of media that may include audio-visual material, text, graphs, images and/or data published in print or electronic sources. If students use the work or ideas of another person, they must acknowledge the source using a standard style of referencing in a consistent manner. A student's failure to acknowledge a source will be investigated by the IB as a potential breach of regulations that may result in a penalty imposed by the IB final award committee.
The IB does not proscribe which style(s) of referencing or in-text citation should be used by students; this is left to the discretion of appropriate faculty/staff in the student's school. In practice, certain styles may prove most commonly used, but schools are free to choose a style that is appropriate for the subject concerned and the language in which students' work is written.
The following criteria must be applied:
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Students are expected to use a standard style and use it consistently so that credit is given to all sources used, including sources that have been paraphrased or summarized.
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When writing, students must clearly distinguish (in the body of the text) between their words and those of others by the use of quotation marks (or other method like indentation) followed by an appropriate citation that denotes an entry in the bibliography.
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Students are not expected to show faultless expertise in referencing, but are expected to demonstrate that all sources have been acknowledged.
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Students must be advised that any audio-visual material, text, graphs, images and/or data that is crucial to their work and that is not their own must also attribute the source. Again, an appropriate style of referencing/citation must be used.
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Regardless of the reference style adopted by the school for a given subject, it is expected that the minimum information given includes:
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Name of author
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Date of publication
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Title of source
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Page numbers as applicable
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Date of access (electronic sources)
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URL
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Referencing Online Materials
References to online materials should include the title of the extract used as well as the website address, the date it was accessed and, if possible, the author.
With regard to electronic sources, the requirement of the IB for date stamping supersedes the requirements of the chosen referencing system.
In other words, all electronic sources must be date stamped by including the date the student accessed the resource (for example, accessed 12 March 2016). Caution should be exercised with information found on websites that do not give references or that cannot be cross-checked against other sources. The more important a particular point is to the essay, the more the quality of its source needs to be evaluated.
Caution on Using Footnotes and Endnotes
IB has a caution for students using footnotes and/or endnotes in their Extended Essays:
Footnotes and endnotes may be used for referencing purposes and if this is the case will not be included in the word count of the essay.
If information is contained in a footnote or endnote and is not a reference, this must be included in the word count.
In order to avoid confusion and unwittingly exceed the word limit, students are advised to avoid using footnotes or endnotes other than for referencing purposes unless it is appropriate.
As footnotes and endnotes are not an essential part of the extended essay students must take care to ensure that all information with direct relevance to the analysis, discussion and evaluation of their essay is contained in the main body of it.
An essay that attempts to evade the word limit by including important material in footnotes or endnotes will be compromised across the assessment criteria. Please note that footnotes and endnotes are added to the word count as they are encountered.
IB Publications
For information on academic honesty in the IB Diploma Programme, see these IB publications:
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Academic Honesty in the IB Educational Context
Discusses the importance in the IB of making academic honesty a school priority, provides a framework for identifying aspects of academic honesty in the various courses in the IB Diploma Programme.
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Effective Citing and Referencing
Explains why citations are needed, what needs to be cited, when citations are necessary, and how to cite, and also provides a list of citation definitions, a documentation checklist, and a chart showing the elements to be included in a reference.
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