In this paper, a novel selective mapping (SLM) method is proposed for reducing the peak‐to‐average power ratio (PAPR) of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM‐IM) systems. In the proposed method, polar codes are used to construct the SLM phase generation mechanism. This systematic structural design is superior to conventional methods in which phases are randomly generated. Moreover, polar codes and Reed–Muller codes are selected to protect the input data of the OFDM‐IM system. The weight distribution of the Reed–Muller codes is then used to determine the location data of the active subcarriers in the OFDM‐IM system, and these data are used to determine the error correction capacity. Simulation results indicated that the PAPR improvement achieved using the proposed method is similar to that achieved with conventional SLM methods. Moreover, linear block codes are used to construct the active subcarrier selection and SLM phase generation mechanisms to ensure that both mechanisms have systematic structural designs.