/ Sourcing & editorial policy
How every entry is built.
This page is the method behind the compound library and every reference page on this site: where the information comes from, the standards it must meet, the things we refuse to publish, and what to do when you find an error. It exists so you never have to take our word for anything.
/ The method
Verified means checked, not confident.
Identifiers are resolved, never guessed
Every compound entry is keyed to real records: FDA label documents through openFDA for approved compounds, PubChem records for chemistry, published pharmacology for half-life figures. A first-pass citation that turns out not to support its entry is rejected, because a row that opens the wrong document is worse than one that opens nothing.
Evidence tiers, stated plainly
Every compound is labeled as exactly what it is: FDA approved, investigational, not FDA approved, or research only. The badge is not decoration; it changes what an entry is allowed to say. A research chemical never borrows the language of a medicine here.
Half-life data carries its footing
Where the pharmacology is published, the figure cites it. Where it is not established in a public label or literature, the entry says "not established" instead of asserting a number. Two surfaces saying two different things about the same molecule is a credibility failure we engineer against: the regulatory statuses and label notes on this site are generated straight from the catalog the app ships, and every entry is reconciled against it, so drift is caught instead of accumulating.
One molecule, one entry
Compounds known under several names are unified on the international nonproprietary name, with brand and research names listed on the entry. Splitting one molecule across lookalike pages is how content farms inflate their counts; we refuse it.
/ Verification
Checked by a machine, judged by a person.
Identifiers rot. A label is superseded, a record is withdrawn, a database stops carrying the metadata it used to. None of that announces itself, so the catalog’s identifiers are re-checked in bulk against the live registries they point into: openFDA for label documents, PubChem for chemistry records, PubMed for publications, ClinicalTrials.gov for registered trials.
The check confirms the address, not the science: that every identifier still resolves, and that the record on the other end is still about the compound we attached it to. Whether a source supports a claim stays a human judgment; the machine narrows that job to the entries it flags.
Where every entry stands
FDA approved
The FDA has approved at least one product containing this substance for a specific medical use, which means it has been through the agency review process and carries an approved label. Approval is always for named indications in named populations, so it is not a statement that any other use has been evaluated.
Investigational
This substance is under study in humans, typically under a regulatory authorization such as an Investigational New Drug application. Investigational describes a stage of research and nothing more: it does not mean approval is coming, and it does not indicate that effectiveness has been established.
Not FDA approved
The FDA has not approved this substance for human use. It may be approved elsewhere, studied in the literature, or available through other routes, but it carries no approved US label and therefore no agency-reviewed instructions.
Research only
This substance is sold and handled as a research material and is not approved for human use. There is no approved label, which means there is no agency-reviewed information about how it should be handled, who should avoid it, or what happens alongside other medicines.
/ What we refuse to publish
The refusals are the policy.
Dosing recommendations
We never publish a suggested dose, schedule, titration, or protocol for any compound, anywhere. Calculators perform arithmetic on values you enter. For approved medicines, we quote what the FDA label itself says and name the section, and stop there.
Sourcing and vendors
No purchase links, no vendor reviews, no "where to buy" guidance, no affiliate relationships with anyone who sells a substance. Educational content funded by compound sales is the conflict of interest this site exists to escape.
Controlled substances
The library excludes scheduled substances, anabolic steroids, and prescription sex hormones, and the exclusion is enforced by automated tests against the catalog, not by editorial mood.
Unverifiable claims
No cure language, no guaranteed outcomes, no transformation promises, no cherry-picked single studies dressed as consensus. If the evidence is thin, the entry says the evidence is thin.
/ Corrections
Found an error? That outranks everything else we are doing.
Send it through the contact page with the entry and the source that contradicts it. Verified corrections are applied to the catalog itself, which updates the app and this site together. Disclaimers never substitute for fixing the record.
Everything on this site is educational reference, not medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a recommendation to use any compound.