Lab Data Methodology

Full disclosure of how we aggregate COA data and compute vendor trust scores. Every formula is published here. No black boxes.

Overview

PeptiDex aggregates publicly-posted Certificates of Analysis (COAs) from verified peptide vendors. We extract purity percentages, test dates, lab names, and batch IDs from these documents, then compute rolling averages and composite trust scores that help researchers evaluate vendor quality over time.

We neverrepublish COA documents. We link to the vendor's original source URL. We never access gated or login-required documents. Only publicly-posted COAs are aggregated.

Data Sources

SourceDescriptionWeight
Vendor-Published COAsPDFs and documents posted on vendor websitesPrimary
Manual VerificationCOAs manually verified by PeptiDex editorial teamPrimary
Community SubmissionsUser-submitted COA data (verified before inclusion)Secondary
Finnrick Independent TestsThird-party testing database (attributed, not PeptiDex data)Reference only

Trust Score Computation

The vendor trust score is a composite of four equally-weighted components, each worth 0–25 points. Total range: 0–100. Updated after each data collection cycle.

1. Purity Consistency (0–25 pts)

Measures standard deviation (σ) across all non-flagged purity measurements for the vendor.

σ < 0.5% → 25 pts  |  σ < 1.0% → 20 pts  |  σ < 2.0% → 12 pts  |  σ ≥ 2.0% → 5 pts

With fewer than 2 data points, a neutral score of 15 is assigned.

2. COA Recency (0–25 pts)

Measures the age (in days) of the most recent COA from the vendor.

< 30d → 25 pts  |  < 60d → 20 pts  |  < 90d → 15 pts  |  < 180d → 8 pts  |  ≥ 180d → 3 pts

3. Lab Credibility (0–25 pts)

Percentage of vendor's COAs issued by labs from our Lab Credibility Registry. Labs are tiered: Reputable (Janoshik, Colmaric, MZ Biolabs, etc.), Acceptable (GenScript, etc.), Unverified, or Flagged (in-house/proprietary).

100% reputable → 25 pts  |  >50% reputable → 18 pts  |  Any reputable → 12 pts  |  All unknown → 5 pts  |  Any flagged → 0 pts

4. Catalog Coverage (0–25 pts)

Percentage of the vendor's listed catalog that has at least one public COA.

≥ 80% → 25 pts  |  ≥ 50% → 18 pts  |  ≥ 25% → 12 pts  |  ≥ 10% → 6 pts  |  < 10% → 2 pts

Data Collection

  • Automated crawler runs weekly against publicly-accessible vendor COA pages.
  • Maximum 1 request per vendor per 5 seconds. No concurrent vendor hits.
  • PDF text extraction via pdf-parse. Regex-based extraction of purity %, MW, batch ID, test date, lab name.
  • Any purity value outside 85–100% is flagged for manual review and excluded from aggregates until verified.
  • Duplicate detection via SHA-256 hash of PDF content — same document is never processed twice.
  • All raw extracted data is stored alongside the structured record for audit purposes.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • PeptiDex does not independently verify COA authenticity. We extract data from vendor-published documents.
  • Vendors who do not publish public COAs receive lower coverage scores, not lower purity scores.
  • Trust scores reflect data availability and consistency, not absolute product quality.
  • Lab credibility tiers are editorial classifications based on public reputation and accreditation status.
  • This system is informational only and does not constitute medical or purchasing advice.

For Vendors

If you are a vendor and believe any data is inaccurate, please contact us. We will investigate and correct any errors within 48 hours. Vendors can improve their trust scores by:

  • Publishing more COAs publicly (improves catalog coverage)
  • Using reputable third-party labs (improves lab credibility)
  • Publishing COAs frequently (improves recency)
  • Maintaining consistent purity across batches (improves consistency)

Last updated: May 2026 · About PeptiDex · Editorial Policy