Peptide Calculators › Methodology

Methodology

How every calculator on this site is built, sourced, reviewed, and maintained — documented so you can check our math without taking it on faith.

Last reviewed April 2026

1. Source Hierarchy

We weight sources in the following order. Lower-ranked sources are only used when higher-ranked sources do not cover the question.

  1. Current FDA prescribing information (PI) for the approved product — Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Zepbound, and equivalents.
  2. Peer-reviewed, Phase 2+ clinical trial publications in indexed journals (NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, Diabetes Care, and similar).
  3. Manufacturer technical documentation covering reconstitution, stability, and storage where publicly available.
  4. Regulatory guidance documents (FDA, EMA, WADA, ISMP) for status and category determinations.
  5. Peer-reviewed preclinical literature for peptides without human trial data — BPC-157, TB-500, and similar research peptides.
  6. Practitioner and compounding-pharmacy documentation for compounded product conventions, clearly labeled as such and never presented as primary evidence.

We do not cite forum posts, vendor marketing pages, social media, or AI-generated summaries as primary sources.

2. Unit Conventions

All calculators use the following conventions by default:

  • Vial strength — milligrams (mg)
  • Reconstitution volume — milliliters (mL) of bacteriostatic water
  • Concentration — mg/mL, computed as vial_mg ÷ bac_water_mL
  • Dose input — mg for GLP-1 agonists (semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide); mcg for research peptides (BPC-157, TB-500)
  • Output — units on a U-100 insulin syringe (1 unit = 0.01 mL), plus equivalent volume in mL

We do not assume a specific syringe size. Both units and mL are displayed so the result can be verified against any syringe in front of the user.

3. Calculator Build Process

Each calculator goes through the following steps before publication:

  1. Scope draft. Expected dose range, common vial sizes, and user inputs are specified based on the source hierarchy.
  2. Math specification. The formula is written out with explicit units and annotated so the implementation and the displayed worked example are verifiably consistent.
  3. Reference-value QA. The calculator is tested against at least ten manually computed reference values spanning the full expected input range, including edge cases.
  4. Source citation. Every fixed value used in the calculator — max approved dose, titration steps, half-life, class, regulatory status — is tied to a citation.
  5. Editorial review. A reviewer reads the page for accuracy and safety framing before it goes live.
  6. Live verification. After deployment, reference values are rechecked on the live site.

4. Review Cadence

  • Every quarter: all approved-drug calculators are checked against the current FDA prescribing information. PI updates trigger a page update within ten business days.
  • On new trial publication: investigational-drug pages (currently retatrutide) are updated within ten business days of any new Phase 2+ publication or label status change.
  • Annually: research-peptide pages are reviewed against the most recent preclinical literature and any regulatory status changes.
  • On user report: any correction report is investigated within five business days.

The “Last reviewed” date at the top of each page reflects a real review. We do not backdate review stamps.

5. Handling Contested or Evolving Dosing

For research peptides where dosing is not supported by human clinical trials — BPC-157, TB-500, and similar — we present dose ranges from the most-cited preclinical literature and explicitly state that human extrapolation is not clinically validated. We do not assign “recommended” doses.

For investigational drugs, we present published trial doses with their source and trial phase, and we explicitly state that the drug is not approved for use.

6. Corrections Policy

When an error is found — by us, by a reader, or by a reviewer — we:

  1. Correct the underlying value or copy.
  2. Add a visible “Corrected: [date]” note near the top of the affected page.
  3. Keep the correction note visible for at least 90 days.
  4. If the error could have affected dose calculations, we detail the incorrect value, the corrected value, and the affected input range.

Report corrections through the contact page.

7. Limitations

  • We do not model patient-specific factors. Renal function, hepatic function, concomitant medications, pregnancy status, pediatric dosing, and comorbidities are outside the scope of these calculators.
  • We do not model drug-drug interactions. Interaction checking must be performed in a clinical tool.
  • We do not verify product identity or potency. If a vial is mislabeled, underdosed, or contaminated, no calculator can detect that. Source from legitimate, credentialed suppliers.
  • We do not replace a clinician. The calculator returns math. The decision to administer remains medical.

8. How to Verify Our Math Yourself

For any calculator, the underlying formula is:

concentration_mg_per_mL = vial_strength_mg / bac_water_mL
dose_volume_mL         = dose_mg / concentration_mg_per_mL
units_on_U100_syringe  = dose_volume_mL * 100

If a hand calculation differs from a calculator’s output, report it through the contact page. We investigate every report.