What do the examiner instructions actually require?
The 2026 IB examiner instructions specify a research project about one real organization, an explicit real business issue, one key concept, an answerable research question, and three to five supporting documents from which most of the project's information is drawn. The 1,800-word limit is the project report limit, not a license to bury central reasoning in appendices.
Criterion B requires contemporary supporting documents within three years before the submission date. The instructions also limit supporting audio or video transcripts to no more than one of the selected documents. Check the exact school submission process and confirm your chosen document is authentic, properly attributable and readable as submitted evidence.
Check a document against the submission cutoff
The operative clock runs backward three calendar years from submission to the IB, not three years from whenever you began researching. A page's latest update date must be demonstrably real: changing an HTML footer does not prove the underlying information is new.
Three-year cutoff: 2024-04-20.
These example publication dates are invented for the calculator. Passing the date test does not make a source relevant, authentic, independent, or acceptable under any other criterion. A document must support the actual organization and research question.
Build a source portfolio that can challenge itself
Consider this fictional teaching scenario: a neighborhood food business considers buying an automated washing system. Its student investigator must evaluate whether the sustainability benefits justify the costs. The document roles below are illustrative; none represents a collected or verified company record. Do not submit a fictional source as a real document.
| Independent evidence role | What it could establish | What it cannot establish alone | Decision use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal budget summary | Actual historic costs and the projected capacity change | A single management spreadsheet can omit hidden implementation costs | Break-even assumptions, with explicit sensitivity analysis |
| Dated supplier proposal | Price and validity period of the installation offer | An offer is not proof of what the business will ultimately pay | Initial investment and maintenance scenarios |
| External market or regulator evidence | Demand, competitive context or relevant requirements | Sector averages may not reflect this specific organization | Assess whether internal projections are plausible |
| Actual pilot or customer-response record | Observed adoption, complaints or returns | Volunteer samples and short pilots can overstate uptake | Stress-test the assumption determining the decision |
All three to five documents must be relevant and used directly. Five documents copied from the same company may give you five files but not five independent perspectives. Conversely, an outside article about a different company cannot be treated as direct evidence of your organization's cash flow.
Use disagreement to improve the analysis
Suppose management forecasts a 60% reduction in cleaning costs, while a supplier contract excludes water-treatment charges. Instead of averaging incompatible numbers, write a small assumption table: baseline expense, proposed savings, excluded costs, installation, maintenance and best/worst adoption rates. Then recompute the investment payback under the extra charges. This is an original decision-analysis illustration, not an actual company forecast.
Link the result to your selected key concept. Under sustainability, a cheaper option is not automatically the strongest; show which material or resource outcomes the evidence measures, and be explicit when no lifecycle data are available. Never make a definite environmental-benefit claim from a marketing brochure alone.
The final evidence-to-conclusion audit
- For every main claim, underline the exact supporting document passage and record its publication date, author, provenance and any incentives.
- Check that all selected documents were within the permitted three-year window for your actual submission session.
- Mark every assumption in your financial or strategic tool that is not directly measured by the documents.
- Recalculate the decision under at least one credible adverse scenario and report whether the recommendation changes.
- Ensure that the recommendation answers the question and does not introduce new unsupported evidence at the end.
See Business IA examples for a broader criterion-by-criterion project example. iBacalao offers draft feedback, not an official teacher or examiner mark.
Sources & verification
Primary-source references used to verify key assessment facts on this page. Last source check: October 14, 2026.
The evidence portfolio is fictitious and not proof of company records. All numerical scenarios are teaching hypotheses. Use authentic documents from your own research.
- IB 2026 Business Management examiner instructionsPrimary authority for three-to-five supporting documents, publication age, single conceptual lens and the 1,800-word limit.
- IB Business Management IA current contextOfficial curriculum and subject overview.