Editorial policy

Where our facts come from

Every medical or regulatory statement on Peptinote links to a source you can open and check. We use the strongest source available, in this order:

1. 1

   Tier 1: Official labels and regulators

   The FDA-approved prescribing information for a medicine, read on DailyMed, and FDA pages, warning letters and advisory committee records.

   DailyMed labels, fda.gov

2. 2

   Tier 2: Public health agencies

   Patient and clinical pages from US government health agencies.

   CDC, NIH, MedlinePlus, NCBI Bookshelf

3. 3

   Tier 3: Peer-reviewed research

   Clinical trials, systematic reviews and other studies published in peer-reviewed journals, linked through PubMed or the trial registry.

   PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov

4. 4

   Tier 4: Reputable references

   Manufacturer instructions and technical pages, used only for device and handling facts, such as how a syringe is marked.

   Device makers' instructions for use

When sources disagree, the higher one wins, and we say so when the disagreement matters to you. We quote labels word for word, in quotation marks, and paraphrase everything else. Each page lists its sources at the bottom with the publisher, the year and the date we last checked them.

What we don’t cite: sellers and “research use only” shops, forums and Reddit, videos, blogs, Wikipedia, AI-generated summaries, or secondary drug websites when a primary source exists. If we can’t verify a claim against an acceptable source, we leave it out.

How a page is written

1. Start from real questions

   We begin with the questions people actually ask about vials, syringes and compounds, and answer the question in the first two sentences.

2. Draft from primary sources

   Drafts are written from the label, the FDA page or the study itself, not from other websites’ summaries. Software helps with drafting; see software and AI.

3. Check every number

   Every worked example is checked against the same calculator engine our tools use, and units, mg, mcg and mL are checked against each other.

4. Check every claim

   Each factual sentence is matched to the source it cites. If a source doesn’t say what we wrote, we change the sentence or cut it.

5. Screen for advice

   We remove anything that could read as a dose, a protocol, a product recommendation or a place to buy. See what we never publish.

6. Date it

   The page gets a “Last reviewed” date and joins the re-check schedule below.

Dates on our pages

• Last reviewed is the date the whole page was last checked against its sources. It changes only when the page is actually re-checked, not when we fix a typo.
• As of appears in every regulatory status box. It’s the date we last confirmed the status against the FDA’s own pages and records. Status can change faster than the rest of a page, so it carries its own date.
• Accessed appears next to each source: the date we last opened it and confirmed it says what we say it says.

We re-check a page whenever one of its sources changes, for example when the FDA revises a label, and at least once a year. Regulatory status boxes are re-checked whenever we learn of a change, and at least every three months, because the rules for compounded and unapproved peptides change often.

Regulatory status

Every compound page carries a status box that says, in one or two plain sentences, where the compound stands in the US, with an “as of” date and its sources. We use one of these labels:

• FDA-approved prescription drug

  An approved prescription medicine in the US. We name the brands and quote the label.

• FDA-approved for a different use

  Approved, but for a different use or in a different form from the one people search for.

• Compounding restricted

  Not approved for this use, and FDA lists or shortage rules limit whether pharmacies may compound it.

• Investigational, not approved

  In clinical trials and not approved for any use.

• Approved product discontinued

  Was approved, but no approved product is marketed now.

• Cosmetic ingredient (topical)

  Sold mainly as a cosmetic ingredient for the skin, which is not a drug approval.

• Not approved for human use in the US

  Not approved by the FDA for any use in the US. We also use this label whenever a status is unclear or we can’t confirm it.

How we decide:

• Primary sources only. Status comes from FDA approvals and labels, FDA compounding lists, warning letters and advisory committee records, not from sellers’ claims or news coverage alone.
• Conservative by default. If the status is unclear or we can’t confirm it, we say “not approved for human use in the US” and cite what we found.
• A vote is not a decision. An advisory committee vote, a nomination or a company’s filing is reported as exactly that, never as an approval.
• US only. Status elsewhere can differ, and we say so when we mention another country.

Evidence grades

Compound pages summarize what the research actually shows and grade it, so you can see at a glance how much is known in people:

• Strong human evidence

  Large, well-designed randomized controlled trials in people, usually the trials behind an FDA approval, measured the outcome we describe. If a compound is approved only for a different use, the grade covers that use alone and the page says “approved use only”.

• Limited human evidence

  There are studies in people, but they are few, small, short, early-phase or uncontrolled, or they measured lab markers rather than health outcomes. Results can change as better trials report.

• Mixed evidence

  Human studies disagree, or strong evidence for one use sits beside weak evidence for another. We say which is which.

• Animal or lab studies only

  The evidence comes from animals or cells. Results in animals often don’t hold in people, so we never present them as effects in humans.

A grade describes the research, not whether a compound is safe or right for you, and no grade is a recommendation to use anything. We grade what was studied, in whom, and say what is still unknown.

Medical review

We are recruiting a licensed medical reviewer, such as a pharmacist (PharmD). No reviewer has signed off on our content yet. Until one has, our pages say “Medical review in progress” instead of showing a name.

Once a reviewer joins, they will check:

• the formulas, rounding rules and warnings on how our calculator works;
• that every medical statement matches its source and isn’t overstated;
• that side effects, safety information and label quotes are accurate and not misleading by omission;
• that mixing, storage and injection guidance matches the label or recognized references;
• that nothing reads as dosing advice.

Reviewed pages will show the reviewer’s name and credentials, a link to verify their license, and the review date. Read our reviewer standards.

What we never publish

• Doses. We never suggest, rank or imply a dose, frequency, starting point, protocol, cycle or stack for any compound. Calculators take the dose your prescriber gave you. The only dosing information on the site is the FDA-label schedule for prescription GLP-1 medicines, quoted with its source and “follow your prescriber”.
• Sourcing. No sellers, “where to buy”, prices, discount codes or “research use only” shops.
• Efficacy claims. We don’t say a compound “works”, “heals” or “burns fat”. We describe the studies and grade them.
• Made-up trust. No testimonials, before-and-after stories, invented experts, ratings or user numbers.

Corrections

If you think something on Peptinote is wrong, please tell us. Email hello@peptinote.com with the page address and what you think is wrong. A source helps, but isn’t required.

• Our goal is to reply within 2 business days, and within 1 business day when the problem is in a calculation.
• Calculation errors come first. If a confirmed error could change what someone draws into a syringe, we fix it before anything else.
• We say what changed. When a correction changes a fact or a number, we add a short note to the page saying what changed and when, and update its date. Typos and broken links are fixed without a note.

Independence and money

• No seller relationships. We have no financial relationship with any seller of peptides, bacteriostatic water or compounded medicines, and we don’t accept payment, free products or links from them.
• Nothing to buy here today. Peptinote has no advertising, affiliate links or sponsors today.
• No paid placement. No company can pay to appear on a page, to be ranked, or to change what a page says.
• Clear labels if that changes. If we add referral partners, such as licensed telehealth services, or affiliate links, they will be clearly labeled where they appear, explained on a disclosure page, and kept apart from editorial decisions. They will never be peptide or bacteriostatic water sellers.
• Never on results. If we ever show ads, they will not appear on calculator results, and there will be no ad trackers on account or dose-record pages.

Software and AI

We use software, including AI writing tools, to help draft and edit pages. It never replaces checking: every factual claim is checked against the primary source it cites, and anything we can’t verify is cut. We never cite an AI tool as a source.

The calculators are different. They are ordinary, deterministic code: the same inputs always give the same answer, and there is no AI involved in working out a result. Every formula is published on how our calculator works and covered by automated tests.

Questions about this policy

Email hello@peptinote.com. We update this page whenever our process changes; the date at the top shows when it last did.