How do I know if my IB Extended Essay topic is too broad?

A topic is too broad when you can’t reasonably answer it with depth inside the constraints of the IB Extended Essay. If your question requires you to explain an entire field before you can analyze anything, it’s a sign you’re starting too wide. Another clue is source overload: if everything seems relevant, your boundaries are unclear. Try narrowing by adding a specific location, time period, text, dataset, or comparison. Then write your research question in one sentence and test whether every paragraph you imagine would directly help answer that sentence. If you need help aligning focus with examiner expectations, cross-check with the IB Extended Essay assessment criteria breakdown.

What if I love my topic but can’t find enough sources or data?

That’s a normal moment in the IB Extended Essay process, and it doesn’t mean you failed -- it means you’re doing real research. First, run a quick feasibility reset: can you slightly change the time window, case study, or key variable without losing the core idea? Second, look for higher-quality starting points like review articles, textbooks, or academic reference works, then follow their bibliographies outward. Third, ask whether your topic needs primary data; if it does, confirm you can actually collect it ethically and consistently. Finally, consider shifting to a closely related question that uses the sources you can access. RevisionDojo’s AI Chat can also help brainstorm alternative framings while keeping your subject method intact.

Can my IB Extended Essay topic overlap with my IA or other coursework?

Overlapping themes can be fine, but the IB Extended Essay must be its own independent investigation with original writing and a distinct argument. Reusing a few sources is often normal in academic work, but reusing your own text or producing essentially the same project in two formats is risky. The safest approach is to keep separate plans, separate outlines, and separate bibliographies -- even if they sit in the same broad subject area. If you’re unsure where the boundary is, read: IA Sources for Your EE: What’s Allowed in IB?. A good rule is this: your EE should ask a different question, use a different dataset or corpus, or apply a meaningfully different method than your IA. When in doubt, ask your supervisor early and document the decision clearly.

IB Extended Essay: 10 Steps to Choose a Winning Topic

IB Extended Essay

RevisionDojo Team

•7/7/2025•8 min read

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IB Extended Essay: 10 Steps to Choose a Winning Topic

IB Extended Essay

RevisionDojo Team

•7/7/2025•8 min read

Your IB Extended Essay topic feels like a small decision until it isn’t.

One afternoon you’re casually daydreaming about “something in psychology,” and a week later you’re staring at a blank doc, wondering why your sources don’t match your method, why your question is huge, and why the deadline suddenly has a voice.

The secret most high-scoring students discover (usually too late) is that the IB Extended Essay is won or lost before you write page one. Topic choice is not a vibe. It’s a design problem.

Sticky notes escape the IB Extended Essay notebook

A quick IB Extended Essay topic checklist

Before you commit to any IB Extended Essay idea, run this fast filter:

Interest: Would you still care about this in three months?
Focus: Can you explain the question in one sentence?
Feasibility: Do you have access to credible sources or data?
Analysis: Can you argue, evaluate, or model -- not just describe?
Fit: Does it match your subject’s methods and expectations?

If you want a wider view of the whole process, keep the full roadmap nearby: Mastering IB Extended Essays: How to Research, Write, and Revise.

10 powerful steps to choose an IB Extended Essay topic that sets you up to win

Start with the “good obsession”

A strong IB Extended Essay topic often starts as a small obsession: a pattern you keep noticing, a debate you can’t stop replaying, a question you argue with yourself about on the bus.

Write down three things you naturally read, watch, or talk about. Then connect each one to an IB subject you can write the IB Extended Essay in.

Choose a subject where you can go beyond surface-level

Pick a subject where you can do more than summarize. The examiner rewards control of subject language and conventions.

If you’re unsure what “subject conventions” really means, read the marking logic first: What Are the Assessment Criteria for the IB Extended Essay? Full Breakdown.

Let your future self vote

Ask: will this topic help the version of you who is juggling mocks, deadlines, and revision later?

A strategically chosen IB Extended Essay topic can also support your university narrative. If that matters to you, skim: The Extended Essay for University Applications.

Shrink the topic into a research question early

Most topic ideas are clouds. Your research question is the weather report: specific, testable, and useful.

Try this template:

To what extent does X affect Y in Z over a defined time period?

The best time to narrow down is now, not after 2,000 words of reading. For help shaping the opening of your argument, use: 7 Key Steps to Write a Strong Extended Essay Introduction.

Do a 30-minute feasibility sprint

Open a database, your library catalogue, or Google Scholar. In 30 minutes, can you find:

5 credible sources that clearly relate to your question?
1–2 opposing viewpoints?
a method you can realistically execute?

If not, your IB Extended Essay topic may be interesting but not workable.

Supervisor stamps “Feasible” on the “Just Right” topic

Choose a question with built-in analysis

Your IB Extended Essay is not a long fact dump. You need evaluation: comparing interpretations, testing a model, weighing limitations, or judging impact.

If you want to avoid the classic traps (too descriptive, too broad, weak evidence), study: Mistakes to Avoid in IB Extended Essays.

Make the topic “local” when possible

A simple way to sharpen a IB Extended Essay question is to anchor it to a specific case study, text, ecosystem, policy, company, or time window.

“Global impact” becomes manageable when it’s “impact in this context.” Local focus also helps you gather better data and make clearer claims.

Pressure-test your word count reality

Great questions fit the constraints. Weak questions fight them.

The IB Extended Essay has strict limits, and going over doesn’t impress anyone. Use: Mastering the IB Extended Essay Word Count to make sure your topic can be explored deeply without overflowing.

Talk to your supervisor sooner than you feel ready

Bring your best draft question, plus two backups. Ask:

Is this question appropriately focused?
Does it match the subject methodology?
What would you cut to make it sharper?

Supervisor feedback is most powerful when it changes direction early, not when it edits sentences late.

Build a one-page mini-plan

Before committing, sketch:

your tentative structure (3–5 sections)
your main sources or data
what you will argue (not just cover)
what might limit your findings

If you can’t outline it, you can’t write it. And if you can outline it, you’ve basically proven your IB Extended Essay topic is real.

Where RevisionDojo fits into your IB Extended Essay topic choice

Choosing the topic is one challenge. Executing it while still preparing for exams is another.

RevisionDojo helps you keep both worlds under control: build content confidence with Study Notes and Flashcards, protect exam technique with the Questionbank, and use AI Chat when you’re stuck on definitions, counterarguments, or subject-specific method. When you start drafting, the Grading tools (including the IB Coursework Grader) give rubric-aligned feedback so your changes actually raise marks. And when deadlines pile up, Mock Exams, Predicted Papers, the Coursework Library, and Tutors help you stay sharp without burning out.

To explore IB Extended Essay-specific support, start here: IB Extended Essay Guides and browse: All IB Extended Essay Posts.

Choosing between credible sources and a “random blog” offer

Conclusion: pick a topic your future self will thank you for

A high-scoring IB Extended Essay doesn’t begin with perfect writing. It begins with a topic that is narrow enough to finish, deep enough to analyze, and interesting enough to sustain you.

If you want to choose faster and revise smarter, use RevisionDojo to keep the whole machine running: Study Notes and Flashcards for understanding, Questionbank for exam readiness, AI Chat for quick clarity, Grading tools for rubric-aligned improvements, and Tutors when you need a human edge. Your IB Extended Essay topic is the first decision -- but it doesn’t have to be a lonely one.