Data sources
The primary sources Peptide Authority cites and the link patterns we use — UK and EU regulators, peer-reviewed literature, anti-doping bodies, and advertising regulators.
Last reviewed:
This page lists the primary sources Peptide Authority cites for regulatory, clinical, and anti-doping content. The list is intended for reader transparency and for journalists or researchers who want to verify our framing. The same source quality rules are codified in the editorial standards.
UK regulators and legislation
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012 — The foundational UK medicines law. Citation pattern: SI 2012/1916 + relevant Part/Regulation.
- MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) — UK medicines regulator. Cite specific Drug Safety Updates and enforcement actions by date.
- MHRA report-a-problem — Yellow Card scheme entry point.
- NICE — Technology appraisals (e.g. TA875 Wegovy, TA1026 Mounjaro), guidelines (NG-numbered). Cite by TA / NG number.
- NHS — Patient-facing information. Cite specific NHS page URL.
- GPhC — UK pharmacy regulator — registration searches and standards.
- GMC — UK medical regulator — doctor registration and good-medical-practice guidance.
EU and international regulators
- EMA (European Medicines Agency) — EU medicines authority. EPAR documents are the European equivalent of the SmPC.
- FDA — US regulator. Useful for cross-checking approved indications and label warnings.
Peer-reviewed research
- PubMed — Primary literature index. We prefer PubMed-indexed sources over Google-scholar-only sources.
- ClinicalTrials.gov — Registered trial protocols and results. We cite by NCT number.
- Cochrane Library — Systematic reviews — the strongest level of evidence we cite.
Sport / anti-doping
- WADA Prohibited List — The current Prohibited List. We cite the category (S0-S9, M1-M3) and the relevant year.
- UKAD — UK Anti-Doping. We cite UKAD-specific guidance where it differs from the WADA position.
- Global DRO — Athlete-facing substance status lookup. We link rather than reproduce.
Advertising and consumer regulators
- CAP / BCAP codes — UK advertising codes. We cite by section number.
- ASA rulings — Adjudication case database. We cite by case reference.
- CMA — Competition and Markets Authority — relevant for hidden-advertising and CPR enforcement.
What we do not cite as evidence
- Supplier product pages
- Clinic marketing pages
- Social media posts (including from credentialed clinicians)
- Influencer videos
- Anecdotal forum threads
- Retracted papers (we flag explicitly when a previously cited paper is retracted)
- Predatory or pay-to-publish journals not indexed in PubMed
- AI-generated summaries of any of the above
A page citing any of the above as a substitute for primary evidence would fail editorial review. If you see one, please report it via the corrections process.
Source freshness
Each page carries a “last reviewed” date. UK regulatory pages are re-reviewed at least every 6 months; clinical pages at least every 12 months; reference pages at least every 18 months. When a primary source updates (e.g. NICE re-issues a TA, MHRA issues a Drug Safety Update), we re-review affected pages out of schedule.