How do I choose a good topic for my EPQ, and how do I make sure my research is credible?

The EPQ is quite an open-ended course, in that you have a lot of freedom in choosing what you study, where you study/write up and how you choose to carry out research. This is great for some people, however, it can make deciding on a topic and subject very difficult, especially if a student has had no prior independent study experience.

If no great interests or ideas spring to mind when thinking of your EPQ topic and title, it’s best to explore a few broad areas that interest you. A lot of EPQ dissertations are based upon other subject areas, such as Physics, History and even Art, so a good place to start is by reading around your other A level subjects (assuming you enjoy them). When you do this it's best not to worry about picking a specific title, as very specific topics can hinder your ability to write an interesting piece of work, whilst making it difficult to find good sources and information. Once you’ve got a rough idea of what you want to research, start reading journal articles and online reports about recent developments or progress in those fields, to get a good idea of what the topic involves. Once you’ve done this, feel free to decide on a rough title to base your initial work around, and then build your report out from them, doing your best to keep everything relevant. It is very common for report titles to change frequently during the writing process, so don’t worry about keeping it completely fixed.

A good way to ensure your research is credible is to ensure that the sources you are reading from are well-respected in their fields. If you’re reading about something on a less-credible page, it is likely that they sourced their work from other, more credible authors, so check out their references to locate the original material. Government websites (.gov.uk etc.) tend to be accurate and reputable, with other public sector agencies/large companies (e.g. NASA, Boeing, Universities) being equally reliable. If you don’t believe a source you have found is credible, try and find the same information in a different article, by using Google Scholar or similar search engines to find journals and reports.