Page Limit for IA

[ABKor752]

How strict is the 6-12 page limit for science IA's? Will the moderator just stop reading at 12 pages and pretend like the rest doesn't exist. And do title pages in that page limit?

[tim9800]

1. How strict is the 6-12 page limit?

Quote

The internal assessment task will be one scientific investigation taking about 10 hours and the write-up should be about 6 to 12 pages long. Investigations exceeding this length will be penalized in the communication criterion as lacking in conciseness. (p.178, Chemistry Guide 2016)

According to the syllabus, markers are supposed to penalize you for exceeding the limit. However, markers have been known to be lenient on this limit - some treat it as a rough guide, others are much more harsh. As a result, my recommendation would be to stick to the limit, unless you really, really can't cut down your IA under 12 pages. Saying this, my Chemistry IA was 13 pages, Physics IA was 14, both including bibliography. I expect to lose at least one mark in communication for both.

2. Will the moderator just stop reading at 12 pages?

Referencing the quote, there is nothing that explicitly says the moderator will stop reading within reason. I would suspect they would finish reading over 12 pages if your IA is like 13,14 or 15 pages, but if your IA is like 50 pages long, they might skim the rest lol.

3. Title Pages

We were told not to include title pages in our IAs because they weren't necessary - all your details will be included in a coversheet when your IBDP co-ordinator submits them digitally. As for the research question, just have a heading and type it out:

If you do feel the need to include a title page, I don't think it would count towards the limit.

Good luck with your IA!

[ABKor752]

Thank you so much! It's currently at 15 pages and I've been trying to cut it down (which I will continue doing), so this helps a lot. Thank you!