IB Extended Essay source requirements
IB Extended Essay Source Checker
Extended Essay source suitability depends on the subject. In every subject, sources should be traceable, relevant to the research question, cited accurately, and strong enough to support independent analysis.
AI source auditor
Extended Essay research sources source check
Marksy reads the links or source notes you provide, applies the selected IB assessment profile, and only stops for clarification when the score depends on it.
Selected profile
Extended Essay research sources
Source rules
What usually works for Extended Essay research sources
Usually strong
- Subject-appropriate primary texts/data, academic books, journal articles, official data, experiments, interviews, and archival sources.
- Context sources when clearly secondary to analysis.
- AI tools only when acknowledged and verified through real sources.
Needs review
- Too many general websites.
- Sources that are credible generally but weak for the chosen subject.
- A bibliography padded with sources that do not answer the research question.
Avoid or replace
- Wikipedia/encyclopedia as core evidence.
- Uncited AI output.
- Sources the student cannot evaluate or connect to the research question.
Examples: strong, risky, weak
Strong
A focused mix of primary evidence and specialist secondary scholarship aligned to the EE subject.
Review
A news article useful for context but not enough as core evidence.
Weak
A general overview page used as the main source.
Where to find better Extended Essay research sources sources
If your current source gets a warning, do not just add more websites. Use searches that match the assessment rule and replace weak evidence with sources that can actually carry analysis.
Search queries to try
Replacement moves
Replace wikipedia/encyclopedia as core evidence. with subject-appropriate primary texts/data, academic books, journal articles, official data, experiments, interviews, and archival sources..
Use too many general websites. only as context unless your teacher confirms they can carry evidence.
Add one source that gives direct evidence for the research sources, not just general background.