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Sources
Every claim on this site comes from one of the sources below. They are listed in the order we prefer them, and where they disagree, the one higher up wins.
01UK regulatory and clinical
- electronic medicines compendium, medicines.org.uk Summaries of Product Characteristics and patient information leaflets. For a licensed medicine, the SPC is the single most reliable document in existence about what it is approved for.
- MHRA Licensing decisions, safety alerts, Drug Safety Update, counterfeit warnings, and the Yellow Card scheme for reporting suspected adverse reactions.
- BNF, British National Formulary The clinical reference UK prescribers use. Mechanism, cautions, interactions, monitoring.
- NICE Technology appraisals, which decide whether the NHS funds something and under what criteria. Separate from licensing and frequently confused with it.
- NHS England and NHS.uk Access pathways, commissioning guidance, and patient-facing information.
02Research
- PubMed The primary literature. We cite the paper, not coverage of the paper.
- Cochrane Library Systematic reviews, which weigh a whole body of evidence rather than a single study.
- ClinicalTrials.gov and NIHR Be Part of Research Trial registrations, which show what is actually being tested and where.
03Sport
- WADA Prohibited List and UK Anti-Doping Status for tested athletes. Note that WADA status can change, and strict liability means the athlete carries the risk.
04What we do not use
- Sellers. Peptide vendors, clinics and pharmacies producing content about products they sell. Much of the material ranking well in search on these topics falls into this category.
- Press coverage as a primary source. Useful for finding a study. Not a substitute for reading it, because the numbers frequently shift in translation.
- Forums, social media and testimonial. Real experiences, but no way to verify what was taken, in what quantity, or what else was going on.
- Certificates of analysis from sellers. Commissioned by the seller, applying to a batch you cannot confirm you received.
05Reading these yourself
You do not need us. Everything here is public and free. Search a compound name on the eMC to find out whether it is licensed, then search PubMed to see what has been tested. If both come up empty, that is the answer, and no amount of marketing changes it.
If you want the method for judging what you find, that is the third explainer.