110 IB extended essay topics for better research

Choosing extended essay topics works best when you start with one IB subject, one clear method, and one focused research question. The strongest ideas are narrow enough for the 4,000-word limit but still leave room for source analysis, comparison, or experiment. You can use the examples below as starting points, then add your own place, period, text, company, artwork, or dataset before drafting.

List of the best IB extended essay topics

A strong IB extended essay topic connects curiosity with sources you can realistically use. Your supervisor can refine the wording, but the starting choice still matters. If the plan feels too broad, narrow it before drafting. If you need help turning a broad idea into a research plan, an IB writing service can show how topic scope, structure, and formatting usually work.

10 History

In History, useful ideas usually examine cause, change, debate, or interpretation within a narrow period. Use a tight date range and sources that show more than one view.

1. New Deal farm policy effects on Iowa farmers.
2. Cold War propaganda in 1950s school textbooks.
3. Women organizers in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
4. Presidential decisions during the early Korean War.
5. Harlem press coverage and African American identity.
6. Cuban Missile Crisis coverage in rival newspapers.
7. Japanese American redress activism after wartime internment policy.
8. Regional newspaper coverage of the Watergate scandal.
9. Draft resistance in Chicago during the Vietnam War.
10. Reagan union policy and the air controllers’ strike.

10 Global politics

Use IB extended essay topics when a real case shows power, rights, development, or conflict. Opinion is not enough for this subject. Study actors, institutions, decisions, and consequences.

1. Youth climate litigation in Montana policy debates.
2. Refugee policy framing in Texas after 2020.
3. NATO security policy in the Baltic states.
4. Indigenous water rights disputes in Arizona politics.
5. International sanctions and effects on Iranian civil society.
6. UN peacekeeping effectiveness in post-independence South Sudan.
7. Social media monitoring of election misinformation campaigns.
8. Human rights reporting and Myanmar policy responses.
9. Asylum seeker narratives in modern U.S. politics.
10. Food aid delivery challenges in Yemen’s conflict.

10 Economics

Economics ideas should begin with measurable variables, such as price, demand, incentives, costs, or consumer behavior. Apply theory rather than only describing a market.

1. How Seattle wage increases affected small restaurant hiring.
2. A study of gas prices and urban commuting.
3. Tuition increases and enrollment demand at one college.
4. New York rent control effects on housing supply.
5. Soda taxes and changing soft drink sales.
6. Streaming price increases and customer churn rates.
7. California EV credits and consumer demand patterns.
8. Airline baggage fees and budget flight demand.
9. Delivery app fees and local restaurant prices.
10. Mortgage rates and first-time homebuyer demand patterns.

10 Business and management

Business and Management topics should study one organization, decision, or strategy. Avoid writing a company profile. Public companies often give stronger evidence through reports and performance data.

1. Starbucks Rewards and customer retention in the U.S.
2. Netflix pricing changes and subscriber retention after 2022.
3. Nike TikTok campaigns and Gen Z engagement.
4. Costco memberships during periods of high inflation.
5. Target private labels and long-term customer loyalty.
6. Tesla recalls and consumer trust in the brand.
7. Chipotle mobile ordering and customer convenience levels.
8. Disney streaming bundles and customer retention rates.
9. Patagonia activism and long-term outdoor customer loyalty.
10. Airbnb host satisfaction in one selected city.

10 Computer science

Strong Computer Science ideas start with a testable problem, measurable outcome, and repeatable method. Choose an algorithm, model, system, or performance problem. Measure speed, accuracy, memory, usability, or security.

1. A* and Dijkstra algorithms for route-finding efficiency.
2. Password strength meters and user password choices.
3. Sorting algorithms on nearly sorted school datasets.
4. Naive Bayes accuracy in spam email detection.
5. Image compression levels and perceived visual quality.
6. Lighting conditions and facial recognition accuracy rates.
7. Cache size and simple program speed tests.
8. School FAQ chatbot response accuracy rates for students.
9. Encryption methods and small-file processing speed tests.
10. Library search indexing method efficiency comparisons for students.

10 Chemistry

Chemistry extended essay topics need safe methods, controlled variables, and reliable measurements. School lab access may limit your choices. A narrow experiment can still give you rich analysis.

1. Storage time and vitamin C loss in juice.
2. Water hardness and soap lather formation rates.
3. Temperature effects on aspirin hydrolysis reaction rate.
4. Cleaner pH and enzyme product effectiveness levels.
5. Antacid brands and measured neutralization capacity differences.
6. Salt concentration and water freezing point change.
7. Brewing time and caffeine extraction from tea.
8. Lemon juice concentration and sliced apple oxidation.
9. Cornstarch concentration and bioplastic tensile strength changes.
10. Sports drink brands and measured buffering capacity.

10 Art

Ideas in Art should connect visual analysis with context. Do not only describe style or biography. Study technique, audience, symbolism, space, or cultural meaning.

1. Basquiat crown imagery and Black artistic identity.
2. Kahlo medical self-portraits and representations of pain.
3. Warhol consumer imagery and visual repetition techniques.
4. Kehinde Wiley portraits and symbolic power structures.
5. Japanese prints and Van Gogh’s compositional choices.
6. Banksy murals and public political messaging strategies.
7. Bauhaus poster typography and modern design principles.
8. O’Keeffe desert abstractions and Southwestern color symbolism.
9. Harlem Renaissance covers and Black identity construction.
10. Maya Lin memorials, public space, and memory.

10 Literature

Extended essay topics in Literature work best when they study language, structure, voice, image, or form. Avoid broad moral lessons. Pick one or two texts and track exact passages. If the opening feels unclear, review how to start a research paper before drafting.

1. Isolation in Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar.”
2. Memory and trauma in Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”
3. Masculinity in Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” characters.
4. Narrative voice in Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
5. Surveillance in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984.”
6. Migration and identity in Lahiri’s “The Namesake.”
7. Silence and fear in McCarthy’s “The Road.”
8. Guilt and psychological decline in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
9. Childhood and moral growth in “Jane Eyre.”
10. Irony, marriage, and class in Austen’s fiction.

10 Music

In Music, the best ideas link sound to analysis through harmony, rhythm, production, performance, lyrics, or form. Timestamps and score references make claims easier to follow.

1. Modal harmony in Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue.”
2. Protest lyrics in 1960s American folk music.
3. Repetition in Philip Glass minimalist piano compositions.
4. Sampling techniques in early hip-hop production history.
5. Recurring motifs in John Williams film scores.
6. Syncopation patterns in Afro-Cuban popular music traditions.
7. Auto-Tune and contemporary pop vocal style changes.
8. Narrative structure in Dolly Parton country songwriting.
9. Ornamentation in selected Bach keyboard works performance.
10. Adaptive music and immersion in video games.

10 Biology

Ideas in Biology should focus on living systems and measurable outcomes. Pick a variable that can be tested ethically and safely. Small experiments work when the design is careful.

1. Light color effects on bean plant growth.
2. Caffeine concentration and Daphnia heart rate changes.
3. Soil pH and seed germination rate changes.
4. Temperature effects on yeast respiration rate measurements.
5. Salt concentration and early seedling growth rates.
6. Antibacterial soap and bacterial inhibition zone size.
7. Fertilizer concentration and algae growth rate changes.
8. Exercise intensity and heart rate recovery time.
9. Storage conditions and bread mold growth rates.
10. Leaf exposure and stomata density differences in plants.

10 Easy extended essay topics

Easy extended essay topics are manageable, not weak. They have clear sources, a simple method, and a question that fits the word limit. Choose one from a subject you already study.

1. School lunch prices and student purchasing choices.
2. One recurring symbol in a Shakespeare play.
3. Customer loyalty at a local coffee shop.
4. LED light color and indoor plant growth.
5. One local election issue in campaign materials.
6. Soundtrack choices and mood in one film.
7. Color use in one artist’s defined period.
8. Inflation and grocery choices among local households.
9. Privacy concerns in one teen social app.
10. Local protest framing in regional newspaper coverage.

How to choose a good IB extended essay topic

The best topic choices survive a practical test. You need interest, sources, subject fit, and room for analysis. A short background for a research paper can also help you explain why the question matters. Use this table to test your choice before writing:

Checkpoint	Suggested target	Strong sign	Risk sign
Word limit	4,000 words	One focused question	Whole subject area
Time budget	40 hours	Weekly research blocks	Last month rush
Source base	8 to 15 sources	Primary or data evidence	Only summaries
Scope	1 case or 2 texts	Clear comparison	Too many countries
Method	1 main approach	Lab, close reading, data	No method named

Ideas become stronger when the research path is visible before the first full draft. Write a one-sentence question, list the evidence, and name the method. If that feels impossible, the topic is probably still too broad.

Citation style also matters once the draft begins. Students who need formatting support can use an APA paper writer as a reference for source handling, especially in subjects where citation rules become technical. Formatting should support reasoning, not replace it.

Final thoughts

Choosing extended essay topics is both creative and practical, since the best choice must interest you and still fit the IB format. Start with a subject you know, then narrow it to a place, text, period, experiment, company, or dataset. The right question gives enough evidence without becoming too large. During final review, check citation habits as carefully as argument flow, since Ibid. can help when repeated source references appear in a draft. With those choices in place, the essay feels like a project with a clear route, not a maze.