IA Page Limit Penalty

[CalissaRelics]

Hi,

I know that the page limit for Physics and Chemistry IA is about 12 pages but what if your page limit exceeds, how many marks penalty do you get?

For chem, I only have the most important data tables and the evaluation is kinda long...Total actual IA leaving Bibliography and Appendix is about 18 pages. How much penalty do I get?

Plus I also heard that the Appendix and Bibliography is included within the page count. Is that true? Actually I have lots of data tables and calculations in my appendix, so it went to a total IA + Appendix = 26 pages. 

Thanks.

Edited October 25, 2016 by CalissaRelics

[terribletouw]

You'll lose marks in the Communication area of the criteria, I imagine it's 1-2 marks? 

But really, that's ridiculously long, you should be working on cutting that down. 

[kw0573]

One way is to condense data tables, for example there is no reason to put processed and raw data tables separately: combining them can save space. You should maximize the number of columns and minimize the number of rows, so you should never have tables of 2-3 columns and 50 rows, go switch the rows and columns. Examiners do not read the appendix, so if the appendix is too long just delete most of its contents. 

You should understand that examiners do not have time to thoroughly "search" for points to give you marks on, it is your job to -revise your work to a clear, coherent and concise presentation. It's similar to if somebody answers those 2-3 mark short answers with 100 words; no the response should be quick and to-the-point. Your essay should be like that but in full sentences. With that in mind, you may indirectly lose more points if examiners can't find the good stuff that you have hidden in your 18+ pages of report. Take a time out to verify that you have hit all the points examiners will be looking for, not just a few of them (too) thoroughly.  

Regarding calculations, usually just do one sample calculation. You can often omit steps if it's clear what you are doing. 

[CalissaRelics]

Thank You very much!! My actual IA is 18 pages ,,the rest is appendix so I will somehow cut it down. Thanks!

[Msj Chem]

This is taken from the May 2016 subject report (copyright IB).

" The reports were mostly concise and most of them did meet the recommended 12 page limit which did prove sufficient for even the most sophisticated investigations. Some students did include lengthy appendices in order to circumvent the page limit ruling but this is not an acceptable strategy since examiners do not have to read the appendices so vital marks could have been lost. Most of the reports were relevant although the one area of weakness was the inclusion of too much general background information that wasn’t focused on the Research Question."