How often should I write in my MYP Personal Project process journal?

The IB does not prescribe one universal number of entries for every student, although individual schools may set their own schedule. A practical approach is to add an entry after each meaningful work session or at least once during every active project week. Record significant research, decisions, tests, feedback, challenges, and changes rather than filling the journal with repetitive updates. Short, regular entries are usually more accurate than a long summary written several weeks later. Always follow your supervisor's instructions if your school requires a particular frequency or checkpoint system.

Does the entire process journal get graded?

The process journal does not normally receive a separate IB criterion score for its appearance or length. Instead, it provides evidence that supports your report across Criterion A: Planning, Criterion B: Applying Skills, and Criterion C: Reflecting. Your supervisor may review the complete journal to monitor progress, academic honesty, or school-based requirements. Selected extracts can also be included as evidence according to your school's current submission instructions. This means the journal matters greatly, even though writing more pages does not automatically earn a higher achievement level.

How many process journal extracts should I submit?

Publicly available IB Projects guidance describes a maximum of 10 individual process journal extracts for an individual project. An extract can contain text, a photograph, a diagram, annotated research, a timeline, feedback, or another relevant artifact. The strongest selection covers key developments and provides evidence across all current Personal Project criteria. Do not assume that you must submit exactly 10 if fewer carefully chosen extracts meet your school's instructions. Confirm the current page, file, and extract limits with your MYP coordinator because local submission procedures can differ.

Can I use Google Docs or another digital format for my process journal?

Yes, a process journal can be digital, physical, visual, audio-based, or a combination of formats. A digital document works well because you can date entries, insert photographs, link evidence, and search for information when writing the report. Organize it with clear headings and keep original files for important drafts or media. Make regular backup copies because losing the journal can also mean losing evidence of your process. Check that your chosen platform allows you to export the required extracts in the format requested by your school.

What is the difference between the process journal and the Personal Project report?

The process journal is an ongoing working record created while the project develops. It can contain rough ideas, research notes, photographs, plans, mistakes, feedback, and immediate reflections. The report is the structured final account assessed against the official Personal Project criteria. In the report, you select and explain the most relevant evidence instead of reproducing the journal chronologically. A strong journal makes the report easier to write, but it does not replace clear criterion-focused analysis.

What makes a process journal entry strong?

A strong entry is dated and records a meaningful action, decision, result, or change. It explains why the event mattered rather than merely stating that work was completed. Where relevant, it connects evidence to research, feedback, success criteria, or a specific ATL skill. It should also identify the next step so that development is visible across later entries. Photographs, drafts, and screenshots become stronger evidence when they are labelled and briefly annotated.

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MYP Personal Project Process Journal Guide

MYP Personal Project Study Guides

• 11 Sept 2026•12

MYP Personal Project Process Journal Guide

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MYP Personal Project Process Journal Guide | RevisionDojo

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MYP Personal Project Process Journal Guide

MYP Personal Project Study Guides

• 11 Sept 2026•12

What Is an MYP Personal Project Process Journal?

The MYP Personal Project process journal is the record you maintain while planning, completing, and reflecting on your project. It captures ideas, research, decisions, drafts, feedback, problems, revisions, and learning as they occur.

It is not simply a diary or a polished account written after finishing the product. Its purpose is to preserve authentic evidence of your working process. This evidence helps you write the final report, demonstrate approaches to learning (ATL) skills, and establish that the submitted work is your own.

The IB overview of the MYP Personal Project explains that the project involves a process, a product or outcome, and a report. The journal documents that process and supplies evidence for the report.

Is the Process Journal Required?

MYP students are expected to document their work throughout the Personal Project. The journal should evolve alongside the project rather than being reconstructed shortly before submission.

However, maintaining a journal is different from having every page formally assessed. Presentation, decoration, and length do not earn marks by themselves. Relevant evidence from the journal supports the explanations assessed in your report.

Publicly available IB guidance describes selecting a maximum of 10 individual extracts for an individual project. File formats, school checkpoints, and requirements for submitting the complete journal can vary. Follow the current instructions from your MYP coordinator and supervisor, even if they differ from older online guidance.

What Can the Journal Look Like?

A process journal does not have to be a handwritten notebook. It may be written, visual, digital, audio-based, or a combination of formats.

Suitable options include:

A notebook or sketchbook
A dated digital document
A digital notebook divided into project stages
A folder of annotated photographs and drafts
A spreadsheet recording plans, tests, or progress data
Short audio or video reflections, where permitted

Choose a format that is quick to update and easy to back up. Label photographs, identify draft versions, date entries, and explain why each artifact matters. An unexplained screenshot provides little evidence of your thinking.

How the Journal Supports Criteria A-C

The current framework uses three criteria, each with a maximum achievement level of 8. The process journal is not a separate criterion. It supports your report across all three.

MYP Personal Project criterion	Useful process journal evidence
Criterion A: Planning	Learning goal, intended product, success criteria, timeline, resources, and plan revisions
Criterion B: Applying Skills	Research, source evaluation, communication, problem-solving, feedback, and specific ATL applications
Criterion C: Reflecting	Test results, evaluation against success criteria, learning, limitations, and improvements

Older resources may describe four criteria or use labels such as Investigating, Planning, Taking Action, and Reflecting. Those belong to earlier frameworks. Use the current criteria supplied by your school.

For additional context, consult RevisionDojo's MYP Personal Project student guide and Personal Project report structure guide.

What Should the Process Journal Contain?

A useful journal records both what happened and what you learned from it. It should reveal development, not merely display the finished product.

Goal and topic development

Record possible topics, feasibility checks, mind maps, supervisor discussions, and rejected ideas. RevisionDojo's guide to choosing a strong Personal Project topic can help you test whether an idea is manageable.

Once you select a direction, document:

Your learning goal and related personal interest
Your intended product or outcome
The intended audience or user
Limits involving time, cost, equipment, or access

This shows that the final goal resulted from considered planning.

Success criteria and planning

Success criteria define what an effective product will achieve. They must be specific enough to evaluate later. “My website will be good” is vague; measurable criteria could require five tested recipes, mobile compatibility, readable navigation, and an average usability score of four out of five from a defined test group.

Record how you developed each criterion. Include a timeline, milestones, required resources, anticipated difficulties, and justified changes to the original plan.

Research and source use

Do not turn the journal into a collection of copied information. For each important source, record:

Source: Where the information came from
Finding: What you learned in your own words
Evaluation: Why the source is useful, credible, or limited
Application: What decision or change resulted

Save citation details immediately. Reconstructing a bibliography months later increases the risk of missing attribution.

Product development and ATL skills

Preserve evidence from the middle of the project, including drafts, prototypes, sketches, code versions, rehearsal recordings, experimental data, feedback, and failed attempts. After significant work, explain what you tried, what happened, what the evidence showed, and what you changed next.

Name an ATL skill only when you can explain its application. “I used research skills” is too general. Identify the strategy, where you applied it, and how it helped you advance the learning goal or product.

The guide to common Personal Project mistakes explains why unsupported claims and undocumented changes weaken the report.

Reflection and evaluation

Reflection requires more than saying that an activity was difficult or enjoyable. Explain how the experience changed your knowledge, decisions, abilities, or understanding of yourself as a learner.

Evaluate the final product against each success criterion. Use measurements, test results, audience feedback, photographs, or researched standards. An honest, evidence-based limitation is stronger than an unsupported claim that everything succeeded.

Example of a Strong Journal Entry

Imagine that your project is to learn garment construction and create a reusable tote bag from discarded fabric:

12 October: Prototype testing
I tested my first tote bag with four textbooks. The handles stretched, and one seam began to separate. My earlier research recommended boxed stitches for load-bearing seams, but I had used a straight stitch. I will shorten the handles, add a second fabric layer, and practise a boxed stitch before making the next prototype. I used critical-thinking skills by comparing the failed test with my research and identifying a specific design change.

This entry includes a date, action, result, research connection, ATL explanation, and next step. It shows development without requiring decorative formatting or several pages of description.

A Sustainable Journal Routine

Update the journal after meaningful work rather than attempting to recreate several months at the end. For each entry:

Add or photograph one piece of evidence.
Record what you completed.
Explain one decision and its reason.
Identify a problem, question, or piece of feedback.
State your next step.
Explain a relevant ATL skill where appropriate.

Use the journal during supervisor meetings. Record the advice received and how you responded. Feedback becomes meaningful evidence when it leads to an adjustment, further investigation, or justified decision not to follow it.

How to Select Process Journal Extracts

Select extracts that provide strong evidence for claims in your report, not simply the neatest pages. A balanced set may show goal development, success criteria, planning, influential research, an early prototype, a challenge, feedback, ATL application, revision, and final testing.

Number and annotate each extract according to your school's format. For example, “Extract 5 shows the load test that led me to redesign the handles” is more useful than an unexplained photograph.

The publicly available IB Projects guide discusses a maximum of 10 individual extracts. Confirm the current limit and technical requirements with your coordinator because school submission procedures may differ.

Common Process Journal Mistakes

Avoid these frequent problems:

Writing everything at the end: reconstructed entries lose detail and may raise academic-integrity concerns.
Treating it as a diary: record learning, decisions, evidence, and next steps rather than hours worked or general feelings.
Leaving artifacts unexplained: date and annotate photographs, screenshots, drafts, and feedback.
Listing ATL skills: explain exactly how a skill influenced your work.
Hiding failures: a justified response to failure can demonstrate critical thinking and self-management.
Confusing the journal with the report: the journal stores working evidence; the report analyzes selected evidence against the criteria.

RevisionDojo's guide to producing a high-scoring Personal Project offers further guidance on converting evidence into criterion-focused explanations.

Final Checklist

Before submission, confirm that:

Conclusion

The MYP Personal Project process journal is a working record of planning, skill application, product development, and reflection. Its value comes from dated evidence explaining what you did, why decisions were made, how you responded to problems, and what you learned.

Keep the format simple and update it consistently. When writing the report, RevisionDojo's MYP guides and Coursework Review can help you turn journal evidence into clear explanations aligned with Criteria A-C.

Sources and referenced URLs

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