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International Baccalaureate (IB)

IB students around the globe fear writing the Extended Essay, but it doesn't have to be a source of stress! In this article, I'll get you excited about writing your Extended Essay and provide you with the resources you need to get an A on it.

If you're reading this article, I'm going to assume you're an IB student getting ready to write your Extended Essay. If you're looking at this as a potential future IB student, I recommend reading our introductory IB articles first, including our guide to what the IB program is and our full coverage of the IB curriculum .

IB Extended Essay: Why Should You Trust My Advice?

I myself am a recipient of an IB Diploma, and I happened to receive an A on my IB Extended Essay. Don't believe me? The proof is in the IBO pudding:

If you're confused by what this report means, EE is short for Extended Essay , and English A1 is the subject that my Extended Essay topic coordinated with. In layman's terms, my IB Diploma was graded in May 2010, I wrote my Extended Essay in the English A1 category, and I received an A grade on it.

What Is the Extended Essay in the IB Diploma Programme?

The IB Extended Essay, or EE , is a mini-thesis you write under the supervision of an IB advisor (an IB teacher at your school), which counts toward your IB Diploma (learn more about the major IB Diploma requirements in our guide) . I will explain exactly how the EE affects your Diploma later in this article.

For the Extended Essay, you will choose a research question as a topic, conduct the research independently, then write an essay on your findings . The essay itself is a long one—although there's a cap of 4,000 words, most successful essays get very close to this limit.

Keep in mind that the IB requires this essay to be a "formal piece of academic writing," meaning you'll have to do outside research and cite additional sources.

The IB Extended Essay must include the following:

• A title page
• Contents page
• Introduction
• Body of the essay
• References and bibliography

Additionally, your research topic must fall into one of the six approved DP categories , or IB subject groups, which are as follows:

• Group 1: Studies in Language and Literature
• Group 2: Language Acquisition
• Group 3: Individuals and Societies
• Group 4: Sciences
• Group 5: Mathematics
• Group 6: The Arts

Once you figure out your category and have identified a potential research topic, it's time to pick your advisor, who is normally an IB teacher at your school (though you can also find one online ). This person will help direct your research, and they'll conduct the reflection sessions you'll have to do as part of your Extended Essay.

As of 2018, the IB requires a "reflection process" as part of your EE supervision process. To fulfill this requirement, you have to meet at least three times with your supervisor in what the IB calls "reflection sessions." These meetings are not only mandatory but are also part of the formal assessment of the EE and your research methods.

According to the IB, the purpose of these meetings is to "provide an opportunity for students to reflect on their engagement with the research process." Basically, these meetings give your supervisor the opportunity to offer feedback, push you to think differently, and encourage you to evaluate your research process.

The final reflection session is called the viva voce, and it's a short 10- to 15-minute interview between you and your advisor. This happens at the very end of the EE process, and it's designed to help your advisor write their report, which factors into your EE grade.

Here are the topics covered in your viva voce :

• A check on plagiarism and malpractice
• Your reflection on your project's successes and difficulties
• Your reflection on what you've learned during the EE process

Your completed Extended Essay, along with your supervisor's report, will then be sent to the IB to be graded. We'll cover the assessment criteria in just a moment.

We'll help you learn how to have those "lightbulb" moments...even on test day!  

What Should You Write About in Your IB Extended Essay?

You can technically write about anything, so long as it falls within one of the approved categories listed above.

It's best to choose a topic that matches one of the IB courses , (such as Theatre, Film, Spanish, French, Math, Biology, etc.), which shouldn't be difficult because there are so many class subjects.

Here is a range of sample topics with the attached extended essay:

• Biology: The Effect of Age and Gender on the Photoreceptor Cells in the Human Retina
• Chemistry: How Does Reflux Time Affect the Yield and Purity of Ethyl Aminobenzoate (Benzocaine), and How Effective is Recrystallisation as a Purification Technique for This Compound?
• English: An Exploration of Jane Austen's Use of the Outdoors in Emma
• Geography: The Effect of Location on the Educational Attainment of Indigenous Secondary Students in Queensland, Australia
• Math: Alhazen's Billiard Problem
• Visual Arts: Can Luc Tuymans Be Classified as a Political Painter?

You can see from how varied the topics are that you have a lot of freedom when it comes to picking a topic . So how do you pick when the options are limitless?

How to Write a Stellar IB Extended Essay: 6 Essential Tips

Below are six key tips to keep in mind as you work on your Extended Essay for the IB DP. Follow these and you're sure to get an A!

#1: Write About Something You Enjoy

You can't expect to write a compelling essay if you're not a fan of the topic on which you're writing. For example, I just love British theatre and ended up writing my Extended Essay on a revolution in post-WWII British theatre. (Yes, I'm definitely a #TheatreNerd.)

I really encourage anyone who pursues an IB Diploma to take the Extended Essay seriously. I was fortunate enough to receive a full-tuition merit scholarship to USC's School of Dramatic Arts program. In my interview for the scholarship, I spoke passionately about my Extended Essay; thus, I genuinely think my Extended Essay helped me get my scholarship.

But how do you find a topic you're passionate about? Start by thinking about which classes you enjoy the most and why . Do you like math classes because you like to solve problems? Or do you enjoy English because you like to analyze literary texts?

Keep in mind that there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing your Extended Essay topic. You're not more likely to get high marks because you're writing about science, just like you're not doomed to failure because you've chosen to tackle the social sciences. The quality of what you produce—not the field you choose to research within—will determine your grade.

Once you've figured out your category, you should brainstorm more specific topics by putting pen to paper . What was your favorite chapter you learned in that class? Was it astrophysics or mechanics? What did you like about that specific chapter? Is there something you want to learn more about? I recommend spending a few hours on this type of brainstorming.

One last note: if you're truly stumped on what to research, pick a topic that will help you in your future major or career . That way you can use your Extended Essay as a talking point in your college essays (and it will prepare you for your studies to come too!).

#2: Select a Topic That Is Neither Too Broad nor Too Narrow

There's a fine line between broad and narrow. You need to write about something specific, but not so specific that you can't write 4,000 words on it.

You can't write about WWII because that would be a book's worth of material. You also don't want to write about what type of soup prisoners of war received behind enemy lines, because you probably won’t be able to come up with 4,000 words of material about it. However, you could possibly write about how the conditions in German POW camps—and the rations provided—were directly affected by the Nazis' successes and failures on the front, including the use of captured factories and prison labor in Eastern Europe to increase production. WWII military history might be a little overdone, but you get my point.

If you're really stuck trying to pinpoint a not-too-broad-or-too-narrow topic, I suggest trying to brainstorm a topic that uses a comparison. Once you begin looking through the list of sample essays below, you'll notice that many use comparisons to formulate their main arguments.

I also used a comparison in my EE, contrasting Harold Pinter's Party Time with John Osborne's Look Back in Anger in order to show a transition in British theatre. Topics with comparisons of two to three plays, books, and so on tend to be the sweet spot. You can analyze each item and then compare them with one another after doing some in-depth analysis of each individually. The ways these items compare and contrast will end up forming the thesis of your essay!

When choosing a comparative topic, the key is that the comparison should be significant. I compared two plays to illustrate the transition in British theatre, but you could compare the ways different regional dialects affect people's job prospects or how different temperatures may or may not affect the mating patterns of lightning bugs. The point here is that comparisons not only help you limit your topic, but they also help you build your argument.

Comparisons are not the only way to get a grade-A EE, though. If after brainstorming, you pick a non-comparison-based topic and are still unsure whether your topic is too broad or narrow, spend about 30 minutes doing some basic research and see how much material is out there.

If there are more than 1,000 books, articles, or documentaries out there on that exact topic, it may be too broad. But if there are only two books that have any connection to your topic, it may be too narrow. If you're still unsure, ask your advisor—it's what they're there for! Speaking of advisors...

Don't get stuck with a narrow topic!

#3: Choose an Advisor Who Is Familiar With Your Topic

If you're not certain of who you would like to be your advisor, create a list of your top three choices. Next, write down the pros and cons of each possibility (I know this sounds tedious, but it really helps!).

For example, Mr. Green is my favorite teacher and we get along really well, but he teaches English. For my EE, I want to conduct an experiment that compares the efficiency of American electric cars with foreign electric cars.

I had Ms. White a year ago. She teaches physics and enjoyed having me in her class. Unlike Mr. Green, Ms. White could help me design my experiment.

Based on my topic and what I need from my advisor, Ms. White would be a better fit for me than would Mr. Green (even though I like him a lot).

The moral of my story is this: do not just ask your favorite teacher to be your advisor . They might be a hindrance to you if they teach another subject. For example, I would not recommend asking your biology teacher to guide you in writing an English literature-based EE.

There can, of course, be exceptions to this rule. If you have a teacher who's passionate and knowledgeable about your topic (as my English teacher was about my theatre topic), you could ask that instructor. Consider all your options before you do this. There was no theatre teacher at my high school, so I couldn't find a theatre-specific advisor, but I chose the next best thing.

Before you approach a teacher to serve as your advisor, check with your high school to see what requirements they have for this process. Some IB high schools require your IB Extended Essay advisor to sign an Agreement Form , for instance.

Make sure that you ask your IB coordinator whether there is any required paperwork to fill out. If your school needs a specific form signed, bring it with you when you ask your teacher to be your EE advisor.

#4: Pick an Advisor Who Will Push You to Be Your Best

Some teachers might just take on students because they have to and aren't very passionate about reading drafts, only giving you minimal feedback. Choose a teacher who will take the time to read several drafts of your essay and give you extensive notes. I would not have gotten my A without being pushed to make my Extended Essay draft better.

Ask a teacher that you have experience with through class or an extracurricular activity. Do not ask a teacher that you have absolutely no connection to. If a teacher already knows you, that means they already know your strengths and weaknesses, so they know what to look for, where you need to improve, and how to encourage your best work.

Also, don't forget that your supervisor's assessment is part of your overall EE score . If you're meeting with someone who pushes you to do better—and you actually take their advice—they'll have more impressive things to say about you than a supervisor who doesn't know you well and isn't heavily involved in your research process.

Be aware that the IB only allows advisors to make suggestions and give constructive criticism. Your teacher cannot actually help you write your EE. The IB recommends that the supervisor spends approximately two to three hours in total with the candidate discussing the EE.

#5: Make Sure Your Essay Has a Clear Structure and Flow

The IB likes structure. Your EE needs a clear introduction (which should be one to two double-spaced pages), research question/focus (i.e., what you're investigating), a body, and a conclusion (about one double-spaced page). An essay with unclear organization will be graded poorly.

The body of your EE should make up the bulk of the essay. It should be about eight to 18 pages long (again, depending on your topic). Your body can be split into multiple parts. For example, if you were doing a comparison, you might have one third of your body as Novel A Analysis, another third as Novel B Analysis, and the final third as your comparison of Novels A and B.

If you're conducting an experiment or analyzing data, such as in this EE , your EE body should have a clear structure that aligns with the scientific method ; you should state the research question, discuss your method, present the data, analyze the data, explain any uncertainties, and draw a conclusion and/or evaluate the success of the experiment.

#6: Start Writing Sooner Rather Than Later!

You will not be able to crank out a 4,000-word essay in just a week and get an A on it. You'll be reading many, many articles (and, depending on your topic, possibly books and plays as well!). As such, it's imperative that you start your research as soon as possible.

Each school has a slightly different deadline for the Extended Essay. Some schools want them as soon as November of your senior year; others will take them as late as February. Your school will tell you what your deadline is. If they haven't mentioned it by February of your junior year, ask your IB coordinator about it.

Some high schools will provide you with a timeline of when you need to come up with a topic, when you need to meet with your advisor, and when certain drafts are due. Not all schools do this. Ask your IB coordinator if you are unsure whether you are on a specific timeline.

Below is my recommended EE timeline. While it's earlier than most schools, it'll save you a ton of heartache (trust me, I remember how hard this process was!):

• January/February of Junior Year: Come up with your final research topic (or at least your top three options).
• February of Junior Year: Approach a teacher about being your EE advisor. If they decline, keep asking others until you find one. See my notes above on how to pick an EE advisor.
• April/May of Junior Year: Submit an outline of your EE and a bibliography of potential research sources (I recommend at least seven to 10) to your EE advisor. Meet with your EE advisor to discuss your outline.
• Summer Between Junior and Senior Year: Complete your first full draft over the summer between your junior and senior year. I know, I know—no one wants to work during the summer, but trust me—this will save you so much stress come fall when you are busy with college applications and other internal assessments for your IB classes. You will want to have this first full draft done because you will want to complete a couple of draft cycles as you likely won't be able to get everything you want to say into 4,000 articulate words on the first attempt. Try to get this first draft into the best possible shape so you don't have to work on too many revisions during the school year on top of your homework, college applications, and extracurriculars.
• August/September of Senior Year: Turn in your first draft of your EE to your advisor and receive feedback. Work on incorporating their feedback into your essay. If they have a lot of suggestions for improvement, ask if they will read one more draft before the final draft.
• September/October of Senior Year: Submit the second draft of your EE to your advisor (if necessary) and look at their feedback. Work on creating the best possible final draft.
• November-February of Senior Year: Schedule your viva voce. Submit two copies of your final draft to your school to be sent off to the IB. You likely will not get your grade until after you graduate.

Remember that in the middle of these milestones, you'll need to schedule two other reflection sessions with your advisor . (Your teachers will actually take notes on these sessions on a form like this one , which then gets submitted to the IB.)

I recommend doing them when you get feedback on your drafts, but these meetings will ultimately be up to your supervisor. Just don't forget to do them!

The early bird DOES get the worm!

How Is the IB Extended Essay Graded?

Extended Essays are graded by examiners appointed by the IB on a scale of 0 to 34 . You'll be graded on five criteria, each with its own set of points. You can learn more about how EE scoring works by reading the IB guide to extended essays .

• Criterion A: Focus and Method (6 points maximum)
• Criterion B: Knowledge and Understanding (6 points maximum)
• Criterion C: Critical Thinking (12 points maximum)
• Criterion D: Presentation (4 points maximum)
• Criterion E: Engagement (6 points maximum)

How well you do on each of these criteria will determine the final letter grade you get for your EE. You must earn at least a D to be eligible to receive your IB Diploma.

Although each criterion has a point value, the IB explicitly states that graders are not converting point totals into grades; instead, they're using qualitative grade descriptors to determine the final grade of your Extended Essay . Grade descriptors are on pages 102-103 of this document .

Here's a rough estimate of how these different point values translate to letter grades based on previous scoring methods for the EE. This is just an estimate —you should read and understand the grade descriptors so you know exactly what the scorers are looking for.

Here is the breakdown of EE scores (from the May 2021 bulletin):

How Does the Extended Essay Grade Affect Your IB Diploma?

The Extended Essay grade is combined with your TOK (Theory of Knowledge) grade to determine how many points you get toward your IB Diploma.

To learn about Theory of Knowledge or how many points you need to receive an IB Diploma, read our complete guide to the IB program and our guide to the IB Diploma requirements .

This diagram shows how the two scores are combined to determine how many points you receive for your IB diploma (3 being the most, 0 being the least). In order to get your IB Diploma, you have to earn 24 points across both categories (the TOK and EE). The highest score anyone can earn is 45 points.

Let's say you get an A on your EE and a B on TOK. You will get 3 points toward your Diploma. As of 2014, a student who scores an E on either the extended essay or TOK essay will not be eligible to receive an IB Diploma .

Prior to the class of 2010, a Diploma candidate could receive a failing grade in either the Extended Essay or Theory of Knowledge and still be awarded a Diploma, but this is no longer true.

Figuring out how you're assessed can be a little tricky. Luckily, the IB breaks everything down here in this document . (The assessment information begins on page 219.)

40+ Sample Extended Essays for the IB Diploma Programme

In case you want a little more guidance on how to get an A on your EE, here are over 40 excellent (grade A) sample extended essays for your reading pleasure. Essays are grouped by IB subject.

• Business Management 1
• Chemistry 1
• Chemistry 2
• Chemistry 3
• Chemistry 4
• Chemistry 5
• Chemistry 6
• Chemistry 7
• Computer Science 1
• Economics 1
• Design Technology 1
• Design Technology 2
• Environmental Systems and Societies 1
• Geography 1
• Geography 2
• Geography 3
• Geography 4
• Geography 5
• Geography 6
• Literature and Performance 1
• Mathematics 1
• Mathematics 2
• Mathematics 3
• Mathematics 4
• Mathematics 5
• Philosophy 1
• Philosophy 2
• Philosophy 3
• Philosophy 4
• Philosophy 5
• Psychology 1
• Psychology 2
• Psychology 3
• Psychology 4
• Psychology 5
• Social and Cultural Anthropology 1
• Social and Cultural Anthropology 2
• Social and Cultural Anthropology 3
• Sports, Exercise and Health Science 1
• Sports, Exercise and Health Science 2
• Visual Arts 1
• Visual Arts 2
• Visual Arts 3
• Visual Arts 4
• Visual Arts 5
• World Religion 1
• World Religion 2
• World Religion 3

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EE turnitin percentage

By misstery_ September 28, 2015 in Extended Essay

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So I just put my EE through turnitin and it came back with 9% similar. Is the fact that this percentage is low compared to the 20% that we're allowed to reach something to take note of because my supervisor is constantly stressing the fact that this is in the end a research essay and the low percentage could mean a lack of evidence and quotations? 

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It depends on the subject and topic you've choose. I completed my EE on psychology and received a total of 13% plagiarism 

It's an English A essay and I did reference some of the ideas I used but it still came up low

Nah it should be okay. I did a physics EE which had 14%, but mine's a special case cos it actually pinged all my excel formulae, which is stupid. If you exclude the excel formulae (which were in the appendices), I had only 4% plagiarism.

Yeah English essays need to have a lot of quotations and stuff. Most people in my grade who did English EEs got 30-60% Plagiarism. One kid got a 60% cause he included two whole speeches in his appendix. So yeah watch out, if you don't have much analysis of your text.

Source: My School is known to get really good grades in English/History essays

Yeah English essays need to have a lot of quotations and stuff. Most people in my grade who did English EEs got 30-60% Plagiarism. One kid got a 60% cause he included two whole speeches in his appendix. So yeah watch out, if you don't have much analysis of your text.   Source: My School is known to get really good grades in English/History essays

The only problem is our school limits everyone (regardless of what subject you're doing) to 20% so I think I might try and bump it up to that by adding more quotes and stuff

No offence to the teacher, but for the argument, it's absolutely ridiculous. It's like saying if someone finishes an exam early, she must have messed up or missed something really significant. Turnitin is programmed to recognize proper citations, which should not show up on plagiarism. Similarity is a poor indication of how much or little evidence you have.

• 3 years later...

I've recently submitted my Psychology EE and Turnitin checked me as 48% of my similarity index. Most of the percentage is when I used the aim, method, result and conclusion of each study, 8 in total. I've checked this with my supervisor and he said it's fine and nothing to worry. However, I felt scared when I read others' comments. Am I going to fail the diploma?

On 9/28/2015 at 3:21 PM, kevG said: Yeah English essays need to have a lot of quotations and stuff. Most people in my grade who did English EEs got 30-60% Plagiarism. One kid got a 60% cause he included two whole speeches in his appendix. So yeah watch out, if you don't have much analysis of your text.   Source: My School is known to get really good grades in English/History essays

Does anyone fail to receive their diploma?

• 2 weeks later...

On 3/13/2019 at 8:36 AM, CoachP said: Hi all, I've recently submitted my Psychology EE and Turnitin checked me as 48% of my similarity index. Most of the percentage is when I used the aim, method, result and conclusion of each study, 8 in total. I've checked this with my supervisor and he said it's fine and nothing to worry. However, I felt scared when I read others' comments. Am I going to fail the diploma?   1

What my EE supervisor told us: You'll only fail the extended essay if you don't cite your sources/quotes. She further explained that % similarity doesn't matter, it's just used as a tool to help you check for uncited sources. Turnitin highlights any "similarity" that it finds, even when it's a cited source, so that usually bumps up the % similarity even if there is zero plagiarism - and the plagiarism part is what IB sees as problematic.

tl;dr: Just cite everything you use in your essay that isn't original, and there won't be a problem.

• 6 months later...

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Frequently asked questions

What is an acceptable percentage of plagiarism.

Your work should not contain any  plagiarism . Even if your score is 1%, you will need to review each similarity and decide whether it’s necessary to revise your work.

But  contrary to popular belief, plagiarism checkers work by detecting similarities, not plagiarism . Not all similarities are plagiarism. Similarities can be:

• Properly cited quotes
• In-text citations or your reference list entries
• Commonly used phrases

What should I do with a found similarity?

Frequently asked questions: Scribbr Plagiarism Checker

The free report tells you if your text contains potential plagiarism and other writing issues. The premium report gives you the resources you need to review issues in detail and resolve them.

Scribbr’s free plagiarism checker estimates the risk of plagiarism by calculating the percentage of text in your document that’s similar to other sources.

A moderate or high risk of plagiarism means that the plagiarism software detected several similarities worth reviewing.

Note that similarities are not necessarily plagiarism. You will need to decide on your own whether your text needs revision or citation.

Information can often be found in more than one place. For this reason, other sources citing the same information you used can come up in your Sources Overview.

The important thing is to make sure you’ve cited the source of the material. Try to find the original source, but if you can’t find it, it’s best to cite the source where you found the information.

Similarities in your document are highlighted for quick and easy review. Each color corresponds to a source in your Sources Overview at the right side of your report.

Extensive testing proves that Scribbr’s plagiarism checker is one of the most accurate plagiarism checkers on the market in 2022.

The software detects everything from exact word matches to synonym swapping. It also has access to a full range of source types, including open- and restricted-access journal articles, theses and dissertations, websites, PDFs, and news articles.

No, you will never get a 100% match because the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker does not store documents in a public database.

You can change the settings of your report by clicking on the gear icon which is displayed just above the similarity score.

The settings allow you to exclude search repositories or ignore small matches, quoted material, or references in your bibliography.

No, the Self-Plagiarism Checker does not store your document in any public database.

In addition, you can delete all your personal information and documents from the Scribbr server as soon as you’ve received your plagiarism report.

Are you not satisfied with the results of the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker , or are you experiencing difficulties with the document? Find out what to do when…

• you cannot see your plagiarism results: Try opening the results in Google Chrome, or request a PDF copy .
• you see an error message in the header of your document: Don’t worry – you can ignore the error message .
• you see “Error! Bookmark not defined” in your table of contents: Don’t worry – this error doesn’t affect your results .
• you are not satisfied with your similarity score: The similarity score shows you what percentage of your text the software found in sources in the Turnitin database. That means we cannot change your score.However, you can reduce the similarities yourself by following our simple guides to interpreting the report and avoiding plagiarism . Then the similarity score of your submitted paper will be much lower. If you want to see your new score after following these guides, you can purchase a second check .
• you are not 100% happy with our service: Read about our 100% happiness guarantee and fill in the feedback form. We will contact you within 24 hours.

If you copied a fragment from a source and the Plagiarism Check did not find it, there are four possible explanations.

You paraphrased the fragment

If you paraphrased the original text by using different words and/or changing their order, the fragment will no longer be detected by the plagiarism software.

You can test this by searching the fragment in double quotation marks on Google. If no results are returned, you successfully paraphrased. Note that you still need to cite the source of the original idea.

However, if Google did return a result but our software did not highlight it, this might mean that…

The source is not part of our database

The Turnitin database used by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker contains 99.3 billion current and historical webpages and 8 million journal articles and books. However, it’s possible that the source you used is an inaccessible publication or a student paper that is not part of our database. Even if you’re certain that the source is publicly accessible, it might not yet have been added to the database. Turnitin is constantly updating its database by searching the internet and adding new publications. You can expect the source to be added in the near future.

To cater to this, we have th e Self-Plagiarism Check er at Scribbr. Just upload any document you used and start the check. You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest!

The “Exclude Small Matches” number is set too high

By default, the plagiarism report shows similarities of 9 words or more. If the fragment you copied is shorter than that, it will not be shown in the report.

You can manually adjust the minimum length in order to show shorter similarities. Find out how to do that here .

Your document was not readable

If you uploaded a PDF file, it is possible that your document is not machine readable or was converted to an image instead of text. As a result, no similarities will be found.

To test if the text in your PDF is readable, you can copy and paste the document into a text editor (e.g. Microsoft Word, Notepad, TextEdit). If the text editor shows the same text as the PDF, then the text will also be readable by our plagiarism software.

If you know that you used a fragment, but it wasn’t found by our plagiarism software, it’s best to paraphrase or quote it anyway (and be sure to cite the source ). It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Yes, Scribbr offers a limited free version of its plagiarism checker in partnership with Turnitin. It uses Turnitin’s industry-leading plagiarism detection technology and has access to most content databases.

Run a free plagiarism check

If you’re a university representative, you can contact the sales department of Turnitin .

Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker , namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases .

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.

Your document will be compared to the world’s largest and fastest-growing content database , containing over:

• 99.3 billion current and historical webpages.
• 8 million publications from more than 1,700 publishers such as Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis.

Note: Scribbr does not have access to Turnitin’s global database with student papers. Only your university can add and compare submissions to this database.

Scribbr’s plagiarism checker offers complete support for 20 languages, including English, Spanish, German, Arabic, and Dutch.

The add-on AI Detector and AI Proofreader are only available in English.

The complete list of supported languages:

If you purchased a Plagiarism Checker in combination with our Proofreading & Editing service, you can start the Plagiarism Checker anytime at your convenience.

Scribbr recommends using the Plagiarism Checker after you have received your document and gone through all of the edits. Then you can upload the most recent version of your paper and avoid having to manually transfer changes from one document to another.

No, your teacher, professor, or admissions officer will not be able to see your submissions at Scribbr because they’re not added to any shared or public databases.

Your writing stays private. Your submissions to Scribbr are not published in any public database, so no other plagiarism checker (including those used by universities) will see them.

If your university uses Turnitin, the result will be very similar to what you see at Scribbr.

The only possible difference is that your university may compare your submission to a private database containing previously submitted student papers. Scribbr does not have access to these private databases (and neither do other plagiarism checkers).

To cater to this, we have the Self-Plagiarism Checker at Scribbr. Just upload any document you used and start the check. You can repeat this as often as you like with all your sources. With your Plagiarism Check order, you get a free pass to use the Self-Plagiarism Checker. Simply upload them to your similarity report and let us do the rest!

Yes, if you are interested in buying more than 25 plagiarism checks, please fill in the form below. Depending on the size of your request, you will be contacted by a representative of either Scribbr or our partner Turnitin .

For questions you can mail [email protected] .

Request volume pricing

Name * Email * Institution Name * Institution's website * Country * Phone number Give an indication of how many checks you need * Please indicate how you want to use the checks * Depending of the size of your request, you will be contacted by a representative of either Scribbr or Turnitin. * Required

You can download or print your plagiarism report using the “Share” button in the bottom-left corner of your plagiarism report.

Exclude similarities : Step 1: Open your Plagiarism Check results. Step 2: Click on the highlighted similarity that you would like to exclude. Step 3: Click on the “Exclude” button on the right.

The similarity is now excluded from your total similarity score.

If you have excluded multiple sources from your total similarity score, then you might see an error message in your Plagiarism Check results. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot fix at the moment.

If you encounter this issue, you can simply ignore all irrelevant similarities and subtract their score from your total similarity score. This allows you to calculate your actual similarity score by yourself.

Review every similarity for plagiarism, and decide whether or not you need to revise your text.

• Review the similarity, and think about whether or not the match makes sense to you.
• Revise the snippet if necessary. You can do so by paraphrasing or quoting . Always cite your sources.

If you accidentally uploaded the wrong document to the Plagiarism Checker , Scribbr will not refund you for this check or give you a discount for another check. The check starts automatically upon payment, which is why we cannot change your document anymore.

A similarity score of 0% means that our plagiarism software didn’t find any similarities between your document and other documents in our database .

On average, only 1 out of 150 students achieve this. Congratulations!

Your similarity score shows you what percentage of your text is found within sources in the comparison database.

For example, if your score is 15%, then 15% of the content you wrote is unoriginal, as it matches text in the database.

You will have to review each similarity and decide whether or not you need to revise your work.

What is a good score?   How do I update my work?

If you’re unable to view the Plagiarism Check results in your browser, please try the following two solutions:

1. Are you using Google Chrome?

We’ve found that using Google Chrome resolves most issues related to the results page. First, try using Google Chrome to open your Plagiarism Check results. If you are already using Google Chrome, or if this solution does not work, then proceed to the second solution.

2. Contact support for a PDF copy of the results.

If the first solution doesn’t work, you can contact our support team via chat or email and request a PDF copy of the results via email. This way, you can still review and process the results. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Scribbr checks your document for plagiarism only once. You can use the “exclude text” feature to exclude similarities that you’ve resolved, which automatically updates your similarity score.

If you would like to recheck your entire document, you can purchase a new plagiarism check at the regular price. We don’t currently offer a subscription service.

Sometimes a quote is marked as a similarity by the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker . A quote is not a form of plagiarism , but you do have to ensure you have properly cited the original source.

If you’re certain that you have correctly quoted and cited, you can exclude the similarity from your plagiarism score.

Below we briefly explain the rules for quoting in APA Style .

Quotes under 40 words

When quoting fewer than 40 words, use double quotation marks around the quote, and provide an APA in-text citation that includes the author, the year, and a page number or range.

Quotes over 40 words

If the quote contains 40 words or more, format it as a block quote , which begins on a new line and is indented in its entirety. Include an in-text citation  after the period.

Sometimes it is necessary to quote a source at length:

The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker detect similarities between your paper and a comprehensive database of web and publication content . Because many students write their references in the same way (for instance in APA Style ), a plagiarism checker finds many similarities with these sources.

A reference found by the check is not a form of plagiarism. Therefore, there is no need to take action.

How to exclude your reference list from your results:

You can exclude matches from your reference list in your Plagiarism Check results. However, please be aware that this might not always work, depending on your document.

No worries! This error does not influence the accuracy of your Plagiarism Check results.

If you have inserted a chapter or section title in the header of your document, then you might see an error message in your Plagiarism Check results.

Instead of the title, you will see an error message like the one above. Unfortunately, this is a problem that we cannot fix.

Our check may flag these error messages as similarities. You can ignore these similarities.

If you have an automatic table of contents and/or list of figures and tables, then you might see an error message instead of the page numbers. The error message might look like this: “Error! Bookmark not defined.”

Unfortunately, this is something we cannot fix. Our check may flag these error messages as similarities. You can ignore these similarities.

The Scribbr Plagiarism Checker is able to work with the following file formats:

The format you use doesn’t influence the final result. If you’re working with a format not listed here, we recommend converting it prior to submitting.

At the moment we do not offer a monthly subscription for the Scribbr Plagiarism Checker. This means you won’t be charged on a recurring basis – you only pay for what you use. We believe this provides you with the flexibility to use our service as frequently or infrequently as you need, without being tied to a contract or recurring fee structure.

You can find an overview of the prices per document here:

Please note that we can’t give refunds if you bought the plagiarism check thinking it was a subscription service as communication around this policy is clear throughout the order process.

By default, the plagiarism report only shows similarities of 9 words or more.

You can change the minimum length of a similarity yourself in order to exclude small matches from the plagiarism report.

What is the best value for the “Exclude Small Matches” setting?

The ideal minimum length of similarities is different per case. In general, we believe that setting the minimum to 8 words results in too many small similarities that are unlikely to be plagiarism. That’s why the default value is set to 9.

However, if you believe that your document contains many small similarities that are not plagiarism ( like these ), you can try changing the setting to 10 or 11 to get a more accurate view of the potential plagiarism in your document.

Proceed with caution , since increasing the number might hide potential plagiarism in your report.

How can I change this “Exclude Small Matches” setting?

1) Click on the gear icon on the top right of the plagiarism report

2) Fill in your desired minimum similarity length

3) Click “Done” to go back to the “Sources overview”

When should I change the “Exclude Small Matches” value?

For most people, there is no need to change this value. However, if you want more control over the similarities shown in your report and you think that most of the small similarities are not relevant, you can increase this number.

Please proceed with caution, since increasing this number might hide potential plagiarism in your report. Decreasing the value is not recommended.

What happens when you decrease the “Exclude Small Matches”?

If you decrease this number, shorter similarities will be included in the report. This means you will see more similarities and a higher similarity percentage.

However, most of these extra similarities are unlikely to be instances of plagiarism. Short similarities are often the result of common phrases that appear in many different sources.

What happens when you increase the “Exclude Small Matches”?

If you increase this number, only longer similarities will be included in the report. This means you will see fewer similarities and a lower similarity percentage.

Since the similarities are longer, the similarities you now see are more likely to be plagiarism.

However, by excluding the smaller similarities, you might miss some instances of potential plagiarism.

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Our team helps students graduate by offering:

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Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents . We proofread:

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The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js . It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github .

The Do’s and Don’ts of Extended Essay (EE)

The Extended Essay (EE) is an exhilarating yet challenging journey that every IB student embarks upon during the diploma. It is a culmination of years of hard work and dedication, an opportunity to delve into a subject you are passionate about, and a chance to demonstrate your research and writing skills. However, the path to completing an outstanding EE can be strewn with obstacles and pitfalls. Drawing from personal experience, I will share some valuable do’s and don’ts to guide you through your Extended Essay journey.

Do’s:

Utilize your supervisor.

 One of the greatest resources at your disposal is your EE supervisor. Regularly communicate with them, seek their guidance, and ask questions when you are unsure. A good rapport with your supervisor can make a significant difference in your EE experience.

Advocate for Yourself

If, like me, you find yourself shuffled through supervisors or encounter issues with your assigned supervisor, don’t hesitate to advocate for yourself. Request a change if necessary and ensure you have a supervisor who understands and supports your research goals.

Start Early

Procrastination is a common pitfall in the EE process. Start your research and writing as early as possible. A well-structured timeline can help you manage your time effectively and reduce last-minute stress. Starting your EE journey with research rather than writing will allow you to understand the implications of your question and your writing process will be a lot smoother. Then the summer holiday between Y1 and Y2 of IB is the best time to get ahead in writing your EE, even if you only do a little, it’s still going to make the whole process during Y2 so much easier.

Choose Your Passion

 Select a topic that genuinely excites you. Your EE is a substantial research project, and your passion for the subject matter will keep you motivated throughout the process. Plus, it will reflect in the quality of your work. This can also help in choosing a future area of study after the IB – who knows, maybe you could be on your way to a PhD in your EE area in the future.

Reading Widely

When researching, it’s beneficial to engage in a wide variety of sources. When you’re researching make sure to read all perspectives on your matter, from the journal articles to documents, to news articles, and even people’s personal anecdotes. While you may not use all of these, you do need to get every countless perspective on an issue to make informed interpretations and back up your claims. This wide-range of research and engagement with your topic also makes you develop a deeper passion and brings fun to the process.

Draft and Redraft

 Writing is a process that often requires multiple drafts. Don’t expect your first draft to be perfect. Edit and revise your work diligently, and seek feedback from peers and teachers to refine your essay.

Cite Sources Properly

Adhere to proper citation and referencing styles (such as MLA, APA, or Chicago). Plagiarism is a serious academic offense, and citing sources correctly is crucial to maintaining academic integrity. What is strongly advised by many IB schools is that the percentage of integrity – or TurnItIn score – should be under 20%, so citing and referencing is vital in all IB assignments.

Don’ts

Procrastinate.

As mentioned earlier, procrastination can be your worst enemy. Avoid putting off your EE tasks until the last minute. This can lead to rushed research, lower-quality work, and unnecessary stress.

Choose a Topic Solely for Its Ease

 While it’s important to choose a subject you are passionate about, avoid selecting a topic solely because you think it will be easy. EE is about challenging yourself and exploring your academic boundaries.

Overcomplicate Your Topic

 On the other hand, don’t choose a topic that is overly complex or beyond your current knowledge level. Striking the right balance between challenge and feasibility is essential.

Ignore feedback

When you receive feedback from your supervisor or peers, don’t dismiss it. Feedback is a valuable tool for improvement. Embrace constructive criticism and use it to refine your EE.

Neglect your Reflections

 Your 3 reflections are worth 6 marks, which is a lot in terms of EE. If you know that you might forget to complete them, or won’t remember things to put in them, keep a document while you’re on your EE journey to keep track of all problems, solutions and lessons you’ve learnt – this will help you synthesize great reflections and help your future self.

The IB Extended Essay is a rigorous and rewarding endeavor that can shape your academic and personal growth. By following these do’s and don’ts, you can navigate the challenges and make the most of this unique opportunity. Remember to harness your passion, seek guidance from your supervisor, and start early to ensure a successful Extended Essay journey. Embrace the process, and you’ll emerge with not only a valuable piece of research but also a sense of accomplishment that will stay with you long after your IB days are over.

You may also like…

• Regina’s guide to citing (MLA formatting)
• Christina’s tips on working with your EE supervisor

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Extended Essay Writers

Avoiding Plagiarism in the EE. Essential Tools and Techniques

Luke MacQuoid

Hello, fellow students working hard on extended essays (EE) ! As an experienced IB writer, I’m here to guide you through one of the trickiest parts of the International Baccalaureate road: avoiding the pitfalls of extended essay plagiarism. But what’s the big deal? My extensive experience has shown how EE plagiarism can unintentionally creep into your work. Today, I’m excited to share my insights and strategies to help you deal with this problem confidently.

Plagiarism in the Context of the Extended Essay

From my perspective, plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own. This can manifest in several ways — from the blatant copying of text without attribution to the more subtle but equally problematic act of paraphrasing another’s ideas without proper acknowledgment.

In my experience, students often misunderstand the seriousness of plagiarism. It’s not merely a matter of academic etiquette; it’s about the integrity of your work and your moral stance as a scholar. The International Baccalaureate Organization holds a strict policy against plagiarism. According to general IB criteria, any instance of plagiarism, no matter how small, can have significant consequences. It can range from losing marks in your EE, a substantial component of the IB Diploma, to the more severe repercussion of failing the diploma entirely.

As far as I know, the implications of plagiarism extend beyond the IB Diploma Program. Plagiarism is viewed as a serious ethical breach in the wider academic community. Universities and employers look unfavorably upon any history of academic dishonesty. The damage to your academic reputation can be long-lasting and far-reaching, potentially affecting your future educational and career opportunities.

But it’s not all about avoiding punishment. Understanding and avoiding plagiarism is also about respecting the intellectual property of others and valuing the hard work and original thought that goes into academic writing. It’s about developing as a responsible and ethical researcher, a skill that will serve you well throughout your academic and professional life.

Common Plagiarism Pitfalls in Extended Essays

While guiding students through their extended essays, I’ve observed several common traps that can lead to unintentional plagiarism. Understanding these pitfalls is essential, as they often occur subtly and without malice. From my perspective, the key is not only to avoid these traps but also to cultivate an understanding of what constitutes ethical research and writing:

• Students sometimes lean heavily on one source for their EE. This over-reliance can inadvertently lead to the replication of ideas and even specific phrases from that source.
• Often, students believe they have paraphrased a source sufficiently, but in reality, their version is too close to the original. As I’ve seen, effective paraphrasing involves more than just changing a few words; it requires completely rephrasing the idea.
• Another common issue is the incorrect application or outright omission of citations. Some students may not understand the importance of citing all sources, including those from which they have paraphrased ideas.
• A significant risk factor for plagiarism is the last-minute rush to complete the EE. Remember, procrastination in extended essays often leads to cutting corners.

There’s often a misconception that information in the public domain or deemed as common knowledge does not require citation. However, per IB standards, it’s always better to err on caution and provide citations where there is doubt.

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism in Your EE

In my years of mentoring IB students , I’ve realized that the foundation of a plagiarism-free Extended Essay lies in robust research techniques. It’s about gathering information and how you interact with and interpret it. Here are some key strategies I’ve found particularly effective.

1. Diversify Your Sources

Avoid over-reliance on a single source. Incorporate a variety of perspectives by using books, academic journals, interviews, and credible online resources. This approach, along with including primary and secondary sources , enriches your essay and minimizes the risk of plagiarism.

2. Critical Note-Taking

As you research, take detailed notes. However, don’t just copy information. Instead, analyze it and jot down your interpretations and thoughts. This practice encourages processing information in your own words, a vital skill in avoiding plagiarism.

3. Organize Your Research

Keep a meticulous record of all sources, including page numbers and authors. It makes referencing easier and ensures you don’t lose track of resources. I’ve found that well-organized research is less likely to result in accidental plagiarism.

4. Use Your Voice

Develop your argument or thesis early on and let it guide your research. It helps maintain a unique perspective throughout your essay, reducing the temptation to rely on the words of others overly.

EE Plagiarism: The Role of Citations and Referencing

In my experience, many students struggle with this, but it’s an area where attention to detail pays off significantly.

1. Choose the Right Citation Style

Whether it’s APA, MLA, Chicago, or another style, make sure you understand the citation style requirements you are using. Each style has specific rules for formatting citations and bibliographies.

2. Cite as You Write

One strategy I always recommend is to cite sources as you incorporate them into your essay. This practice prevents accidental plagiarism and ensures that no source is forgotten.

3. Paraphrasing vs. Quoting

Understand when to paraphrase and when to quote. Paraphrasing shows your understanding of the source material, but it must be done correctly. Always cite the source, even when you paraphrase.

4. Use Citation Tools

There are many tools available that can help with citations from many different sources , such as Zotero or EndNote. These tools can be beneficial in keeping your citations organized and formatted correctly.

5. Review Your Citations

Finally, always review your citations and bibliography before submitting your essay. Ensure that every source you have used is acknowledged and formatted according to the chosen citation style.

Tools and Resources for EE Plagiarism Prevention

In tackling the challenge of EE plagiarism prevention, it’s invaluable to use a blend of digital tools and academic resources. As a seasoned IB writer, I’ve found that working with plagiarism checkers is crucial. These platforms compare your work against extensive databases, highlighting potential overlaps with existing texts:

• Turnitin . This is one of educational institutions’ most widely used plagiarism detection tools. It checks your work against an extensive database of academic works.
• Grammarly . Besides grammar and spelling checks, Grammarly offers a plagiarism checker that compares your text against billions of web pages.
• PlagScan . This tool is another reliable option for detecting plagiarism and ensuring your EE is unique and original.

Equally important is tapping into the knowledge available in online libraries and databases. Resources like Google Scholar and JSTOR are gold mines for scholarly articles and books that can enrich your research. For guidance on writing and citations, the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) offers comprehensive advice, which is particularly valuable for mastering various citation styles.

Never underestimate the power of well-organized research notes. Using apps like Evernote or Microsoft OneNote to keep your findings and ideas in order can significantly aid in maintaining the originality of your work. Lastly, remember that your school’s library and mentors are invaluable resources. Their insight can provide that final polish to ensure your extended essay is informative and plagiarism-free.

So, using these resources can significantly enhance the quality of your research and writing, ensuring that your EE adheres to the highest standards of academic integrity. Remember, these tools are to assist you in your writing; the core of your essay should always be your original thought and analysis.

Developing Originality in Your EE: The Best Techniques

When writing your extended essay, originality should be at the heart of your work. In my experience, the most memorable and impactful EEs reflect a student’s unique perspective and voice. Achieving this requires more than avoiding plagiarism; it requires actively cultivating original thinking and expression.

One effective technique is to engage with your chosen topic actively. It means understanding existing research, questioning it, looking for gaps, and identifying new angles. Ask yourself, “What hasn’t been addressed yet?” or “How can I view this topic differently?” This approach encourages critical thinking and leads to the development of fresh insights.

Another critical aspect is to nurture your voice. Your EE should sound like you, not like a textbook or a compilation of other people’s ideas. You can achieve this by reflecting on your personal experiences or viewpoints related to the topic. Connect the academic with the personal; this blend often leads to original and compelling writing.

Need help with your IB extended essay?

From research and analysis to structuring and editing, our skilled mentors will be by your side, helping you write an exceptional extended essay that meets the word count and stringent IB criteria and reflects your passion for the selected IB group .

Furthermore, creativity in structuring your essay can also contribute to its originality. Don’t feel constrained by traditional formats. Consider different ways of presenting your argument or information. Could your EE benefit from a comparative analysis, a case study approach, or a narrative style? Experiment with other structures to see what best conveys your unique take on the topic.

Collaborating with mentors or peers for feedback can also be beneficial. Sometimes, discussing your ideas with others can spark new thoughts or help refine your argument, enhancing the originality of your work.

Lastly, be bold in your writing. Originality often requires taking risks — proposing unconventional ideas or challenging existing ones. As long as you back up your arguments with solid research and reasoning, these risks can transform your EE from a standard research paper into an insightful and original piece of scholarship.

In sum, developing originality in your EE is more than just producing unique content; it’s about fostering a distinctive analytical voice and presenting your ideas innovatively. By engaging critically with your topic, personalizing your approach, creatively structuring your essay, seeking constructive feedback, and daring to be different, you can write an EE that is not only plagiarism-free but also a true reflection of your intellectual and creative abilities. And if you need some help, the Extended Essay Writers are always by your side! 🤝

Luke MacQuoid has extensive experience teaching English as a foreign language in Japan, having worked with students of all ages for over 12 years. Currently, he is teaching at the tertiary level. Luke holds a BA from the University of Sussex and an MA in TESOL from Lancaster University, both located in England. As well to his work as an IB Examiner and Master Tutor, Luke also enjoys sharing his experiences and insights with others through writing articles for various websites, including extendedessaywriters.com blog

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Extended Essay Resources: Plagiarism VS. Documentation

• Research Video Tutorials
• Video Tutorials
• In-text Citations
• Finding and Citing Images
• Plagiarism VS. Documentation
• MiniLessons
• Human Rights News
• Peace & Conflict News
• Primary Sources
• Introductory Resources
• Narrowing Your Topic
• Subject Resources

Plagiarism vs. Documentation

Plagiarism is the act of presenting someone else's work as your own. It is the theft of intellectual property. The following examples should help you distinguish plagiarism from well-documented research.

Original text from:

McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. p. 57

His marriage to Abigail Smith was the most important decision of John Adams's life, as would become apparent with time. She was in all respects his equal and the part she was to play would be greater than he could possibly have imagined, for all his love for her and what appreciation he already had of her beneficial, steadying influence.

Writing sample #1

John Adam’s marriage to Abigail was the most important choice in his life. He was to come to understand this better with time. In so many ways, she was his equal, and he could not have imagined the importance of the role she was going to play, despite his love for her and his appreciation of her good, solid influence.

Unacceptable!  This paragraph is the work of someone either deliberately plagiarizing or someone who doesn’t understand what it means to plagiarize. The writer may have changed a few words and switched the order of words in the sentences, but the writer has not changed McCullough’s sequence of ideas and has not used the information in a meaningful way. He or she failed to cite what are really McCullough’s original ideas or words.

Writing sample #2

When John Adams was ready to marry, he sought a woman who was his equal. He found Abigail Smith and loved her for her steadying influence.

Unacceptable!  Not only did this student neglect to cite, this paraphrase twists McCullough’s meaning. Though it changes words significantly, it also does a poor job conveying the original idea accurately.

Writing sample #3

The best decisions of a great leader may extend beyond the political. In fact, the course of American history may have been changed by an entirely personal decision. In his biography of Adams, David McCullough notes that Adams’ choice of Abigail Smith as a wife was the most critical decision of his life. “She was in all respects his equal and the part she was to play would be greater than he could possibly have imagined” (McCullough 57).

This is  acceptable  because the author uses the information in a meaningful way, accurately paraphrases the ideas presented in the original source, credits them and weaves in a quote to emphasize the point. The source is properly quoted and cited using quotation marks and in-text documentation. Note that in this example the student created his/her own topic sentence, following an independent plan and not the necessarily following the structure of another author's material.

All of the above content is from:

Valenza, Joyce. "Documentation/Citation & Info Ethics ."  The Research/Inquiry Process . Spartan

Libguides, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://sdst.libguides.com/content.php?pid=184760>.

Plagiarism Presentation

Free plagiarism checkers.

• Paper Rater
• Plagiarism Detector

What is Plagiarism?

Other Plagiarism resources

• Plagiarism Quiz
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• Jul 6, 2021

Everything you should know about Plagiarism for IBDP (2021)

Updated: Jul 8, 2021

'Plagiarism' occupies the front seat of any educative misconduct. It happens when the student uses others' ideas while not employing correct attribution or acknowledgment. The ideas can be in different words, images, sounds, or other artistic expressions. In addition, the meaning of plagiarism may usually be a bit confusing to the student community. So, the student must be aware of the plagiarism types at the very onset.

• Global plagiarism happens when the student reproduces other's work as entirely theirs.

• Mosaic plagiarism is widespread once ideas are combined from entirely different sources rather than quoted.

• Getting into Self-plagiarism without knowledge happens when the student uses an idea/sentence already used earlier.

• If the student retells other's ideas without correct citation, the student gets entrapped in Paraphrasing plagiarism.

• Another serious offense is once the student copies a passage from a source without citation. In the student source citation, it happens such that the student fails to allow all necessary information. Meaning the students' committing a blunder of Incorrect citation. It can not be neglected that the principle of educational integrity lies within the heart of IB. The ideal approaches to teaching and learning reach their fulfillment once IB students show the responsibility of academic honesty and trustiness in their work. The student's moral standards in the 'original' critical work eventually form the student up as rational decision-makers.

Paraphrasing tools

Here are a few editor tools to avoid plagiarism. In contrast, the student finds a way to retain the originality and novelty within the write-up, exposing the students to the web article rewriters. With the utilization of advanced online rewriters, the student will rewrite or paraphrase the articles by minimizing the risks of 'paraphrasing plagiarism.' The artificial intelligence (AI) based rewriter tools like the Best Spinner 4.0, The Clever Spinner, Word AI, Chimp editor, Quillbot, Duplichecker, and Spinbot behave as article spinners redaction a human-readable text into additional, intelligent, clear text. With the utilization of online editor tools, students and academics will profit heaps by minimizing the threats of plagiarism and grammatical errors.

Plagiarism checker/detection tools

Many plagiarism checkers and plagiarism detector tools provide free services but limit the number of words. Moreover, many essential tools check the text match against the online documents used, whereas a few works on a deeper level in checking the documents against the scientific info sources.

• Turnitin is one of the prominent standard plagiarism checkers used by educational institutes. The student will be able to create a free account and run the internal assessments (IAs), Theory of knowledge (TOK) essay, and Extended Essay (EE) before submission.

• Scribbr plagiarism checker uses an equivalent computer code and database like Turnitin. However, while the students access the latter more, the former is subscribed to by the institutions. Thus, although each uses the plagiarism filter funnel against the same databases, the scores generated are relatively similar.

Please note: it is advisable to not upload the write-up on Turnitin as later on, self-plagiarism can arise.

• Ithenticate, a complicated product of Turnitin, is employed to detect self-plagiarism in scientific papers checked against several scientific proprietary databases.

1)Imagine being a blogger, trying to work on an existing, well-known topic from a fresh perspective. The most important aspect is the originality and novelty of the work with a fresh outlook. While working on the write-up, one would find specific facts and figures treated as factual data and cannot be altered.

Hence, the original work can include facts provided the citation of the source has been made. Herein lies the importance of citation in avoiding plagiarism. Therefore, a correct style of citation of referred work from the sources in the prescribed format, either MLA or APA, would help one avoid plagiarism.

2) A famous seek among college students on websites to test for plagiarism is to locate online plagiarism checkers15,000 words per search . Some famous names like Duplichecker, PlagScan, Plagiarisma, Plagiarism Checker might pop up. IB regulations allow at most 5% of plagiarism. The international online seek extent on plagiarism, plagiarism checkers, and plagiarism detectors provide us an illustration that there's a social attention being unfold to appreciate the experience of possessing highbrow data shared via means of one and utilized by another. Whether the supply of data is digital media positioned in electronic mail or website or from books , each little bit of it used has to be cited.

Note: Blogs by 7Wiseways are written based on the writer's information, knowledge, and perspective. While every caution has been taken to provide readers with accurate information, please use your discretion before taking any decisions based on the information in this blog. In case you find any information that is factually wrong or something that could be made better, please write to us at [email protected]

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Extended Essay: Step 8. Decide on a Citation Style

• Extended Essay- The Basics
• Step 1. Choose a Subject
• Step 2. Educate yourself!
• Using Brainstorming and Mind Maps
• Identify Keywords
• Do Background Reading
• Define Your Topic
• Conduct Research in a Specific Discipline
• Step 5. Draft a Research Question
• Step 6. Create a Timeline
• Find Articles
• Find Primary Sources
• Get Help from Experts
• Search Engines, Repositories, & Directories
• Databases and Websites by Subject Area
• Create an Annotated Bibliography
• Advice (and Warnings) from the IB
• Chicago Citation Syle
• MLA Works Cited & In-Text Citations
• Step 9. Set Deadlines for Yourself
• Step 10. Plan a structure for your essay
• Evaluate & Select: the CRAAP Test
• Conducting Secondary Research
• Conducting Primary Research
• Formal vs. Informal Writing
• Presentation Requirements
• Evaluating Your Work

Why do I need to reference everything?

Where did you find your information?

What kind of source is it?

Where can I find the source myself?

What range of sources did you use?

On this page:

Definitions: Bibliography, Citations, Referencing Referencing Online Materials Get help from NoodleTools! Demystifying Citing and Referencing tutorial

See other pages in this section for help with:

Create an Annotated Bibliography Advice (and Warnings) from the IB Chicago Citation Style MLA Works Cited and In-Text Citations

Definitions: Bibliography, Citations, Referencing

Bibliography

A bibliography is an alphabetical list of every source used to research and write the essay. Sources that are not cited in the body of the essay but were important in informing the approach taken should be cited in the introduction or in an acknowledgment. The bibliography  must  list only those sources cited.

A citation is a shorthand method of making a reference in the body of an essay, either as an in-text citation or footnote/endnote. This must then be linked to the full reference at the end of the essay in the bibliography. A citation provides the reader with accurate references so that he or she can locate the source easily. How sources are cited varies with the particular referencing style that has been chosen. It is important to emphasize that there must be consistency of method when citing sources.

Referencing

• they acknowledge the sources used
• they enable the reader to consult the work and verify the data that has been presented. 

References must be given whenever someone else’s work is quoted or summarized. References can come from many different sources, including books, magazines, journals, newspapers, emails, internet sites and interviews. 

There are a number of different styles available for use when writing research papers; whatever style is chosen, it must be applied consistently and in line with the IB’s minimum requirements.  The style should be applied in both the final draft of the essay and in the initial research stages of taking notes. This is good practice, not only for producing a high-quality final product, but also for reducing the opportunities and temptation to plagiarize. 

The IB’s minimum requirements include:

• name of author
• date of publication
• title of source
• page numbers (print sources only)
• date of access (electronic sources only)

Any references to interviews should state the name of the interviewer, the name of the interviewee, the date and the place of the interview. 

For more detailed information on styles for citations and referencing please refer to:

Twelve-step Plan for Researching the Extended Essay - Step 8

8.  Identify which system of academic referencing you will use, ensuring that it meets the minimum requirements for the IB.

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.

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.

NoodleTools Links

Use NoodleTools for your citations!

• NoodleTools Help Desk Find tutorials to help with all aspects of using NoodleTools, or submit a help request ticket.

Demystifying Citing and Referencing

This tutorial from Monash University Library, in Melbourne, Australia, can help you learn the principles of citing and referencing, and understand how to avoid plagiarizing when integrating source material into your research paper.

The tutorial takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.

• << Previous: Databases and Websites by Subject Area
• Next: Create an Annotated Bibliography >>
• Last Updated: Feb 2, 2024 1:39 PM
• URL: https://libguides.westsoundacademy.org/ee

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David Wallace-Wells

When we see the climate more clearly, what will we do.

By David Wallace-Wells

Opinion Writer

This month MethaneSAT, an $88 million, 770-pound surveillance satellite conceived by the Environmental Defense Fund and designed at Harvard to precisely track the human sources of methane being released so promiscuously into the atmosphere, was launched by SpaceX, to great fanfare.

Methane, a somewhat less notorious greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, is produced by industrial and natural processes — leaking oil and gas infrastructure, decomposing melted permafrost, the belching of cows and the microbial activity of wetlands. We’ve known that methane is producing a lot of warming and that there is a lot more of it in the atmosphere now , but we didn’t have the full picture. Beginning next year, MethaneSAT will begin beaming down everything picked up by its spectrometer, providing a publicly available quick-turnaround methane-monitoring system that has filled the hearts of climate advocates and data nerds with anticipation. What will it see?

The hope is that it will see a map of climate malfeasance that doubles as a global to-do list. MethaneSAT is not the first effort to track emissions from space, but its launch has been accompanied by a wave of can-do climate optimism for four big reasons.

The first is that methane really matters. By some accounts , it explains about one-third of warming since the Industrial Revolution, with estimates steadily growing in recent years, along with the astonishing rise of its concentration in the atmosphere. The second is that actually doing something about the emissions from fossil-fuel infrastructure shouldn’t be that hard or that expensive. Human activities are responsible for about 60 percent of all methane emissions, and according to the International Energy Agency, 40 percent of industrial emissions are avoidable at no net cost, with the balance of the industrial problem solvable for the price of just 5 percent of last year’s fossil-fuel profits. The third is that those benefits would arrive quickly. Methane, unlike carbon dioxide, dissipates quickly, whereas you have to wait for centuries or even millenniums to get the full temperature benefit of zeroing out carbon dioxide, so we can clear the atmosphere of human-produced methane in about a decade. And the fourth is that all of the pretty granular MethaneSAT data will be publicly available, scrollable and shame-able for anyone who cares to scan its website for burps or flares of planet-heating gas from at least 80 percent of the world’s fossil-fuel facilities.

This probably sounds like progress, which it is, on balance. But the satellite will probably bring some bad news, too. One of the scientists who developed it described the launch as “like looking over the edge of the cliff,” and almost invariably, whenever we get a better look at methane emissions, the problem appears bigger than we’d thought. The latest example is a revelatory paper , published in Nature last week, which surveyed U.S. oil and gas infrastructure and found that the country’s fossil-fuel industry is producing three times as much methane as previously estimated by the E.P.A.

The figure is both shocking and predictable. Previous Environmental Defense Fund research suggested that annual methane emissions from oil and gas were 60 percent higher than the E.P.A. had estimated. Last year, work published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested it was 70 percent higher . Globally, the International Energy Agency estimates , only about 5 percent of methane emissions were reported to the United Nations by the companies responsible. Reporting by countries was a bit better but still covered less than half of the total estimated by the agency. The Guardian documented more than a thousand superemitter events around the world in 2022. Leaks from just two fossil-fuel fields in Turkmenistan that year warmed the planet more than all the carbon emissions produced that year by Britain.

At least at first, this will probably be the message of MethaneSAT: In most parts of the world, we are doing worse than we had hoped. This should be reason to act, especially because methane is perhaps the lowest hanging fruit of the green transition.

But one of the unfortunate lessons of recent years is that such knowledge of the problem alone is rarely sufficient to drive us to solve it. Since 2021, more than 155 countries have pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030, in what was widely hailed as a major breakthrough for climate diplomacy and perhaps the most significant new global warming agreement since the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015. In the years since, new pledges have been extended ; if all promised cuts are made, methane emissions from fossil fuels will be cut in half by the end of the decade — a radical goal requiring a precipitous and immediate decline.

In order to keep the world in contact with its most ambitious warming targets, cuts of 75 percent would be required this decade . But methane from fossil-fuel infrastructure climbed again last year, the International Energy Agency reported last Wednesday, after climbing in 2021 and 2022. The organization believes a decline may be right around the corner, and there is considerably more global momentum for tackling methane now than in even the quite recent past. But the agency’s report noted that large leaks of the kind documented by The Guardian in 2022 grew last year by more than 50 percent. One such leak in Kazakhstan spewed gas for more than 200 days.

Though most of the attention paid to methane emissions these days focuses on that leaky industrial infrastructure and the climate risks of new liquid natural gas facilities, what worries me most is how much of it seems to be coming from natural sources, which may be responsible for 40 percent of the annual total — and the share may be growing, thanks to the effects of warming on emissions from wetlands, in particular, where higher temperatures promote more microbial activities that generate methane.

In 2020 the Covid pandemic suppressed industrial activity and reduced emissions of methane, but additional emissions from wetlands, researchers found , might have offset that industrial decline five times over. Last year a group of scientists published research documenting the exceptional surge from wetlands, which exceeded average projections from even the most pessimistic warming scenarios drawn up by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. From 2007 to 2021, wetlands emissions were already outpacing those extreme scenarios, and beginning in 2020, the rate of release roughly doubled the rate from 2000 to 2006.

This is not good. It is also another sign that over the past few years, we have somewhat left behind what the statistician Erica Thompson memorably called “model land” and begun to enter — or crash up against — a much messier climate reality.

In some ways, the news has been encouraging. As I wrote previously, perhaps the single most significant climate story of the past half-decade is the realization that extreme warming long considered the business-as-usual base line for our future is now looking much less likely.

But along other dimensions the reality has been more dispiriting than the models predicted. At the beginning of last year, it seemed unlikely that the planet would set a record for global average temperature, but by December, we had not just broken but shattered the record . Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere are increasing at eye-popping rates . An annual review by the World Meteorological Organization published this week declared, “The state of the climate in 2023 gave ominous new significance to the phrase ‘off the charts.’” And off-the-charts exceptional heat across the world’s oceans continues to perplex and worry an awful lot of climate scientists . The earth’s energy imbalance, which is about the best measure of the greenhouse effect over time, roughly doubled from 2005 to 2019 (though by some measures, it recently peaked ).

This, ultimately, is what MethaneSAT will see, circling the planet 15 times daily and keeping a watchful eye on human activities: that down here on the surface we are continuing to run a climatological experiment at a geologically unprecedented pace and scale. The world is warming faster than it had in tens of millions of years, and the rate of warming is accelerating. We’re adding carbon to the atmosphere at record levels, and the stuff we’ve put up there weighs more than the total of everything we’ve built on the earth’s surface. Because carbon dioxide dissipates so slowly, it will probably last much longer, too, making that planet-heating blanket of CO2 perhaps the largest monument to human civilization we’ve managed yet. In theory, we could get rid of the blanket of methane much more quickly. But will we? And if not, what does that tell us about the harder parts of the problem?