Three-Lane Evidence System
Also known as: three-lane framework · evidence tiers
The three-lane evidence system is DoseCraft's method of labeling each claim by the strength of evidence behind it: Clinical, Expert or Experimental.
Every claim in DoseCraft's library, such as a dose range, a half-life, an interaction or a use case, is tagged with the lane of the evidence behind it. Lanes attach to claims, not to whole compounds, so one compound page can carry claims in more than one lane. Each lane has its own color: Clinical is cyan, Expert is orange and Experimental is purple.
Clinical (human trial evidence) needs published human data behind the specific use, dose range or endpoint: randomized or controlled human trials, peer-reviewed pharmacokinetic or safety data, or regulatory-reviewed label data. Animal-only data, anecdote and extrapolation from a related compound do not qualify. Expert (practitioner-validated) covers documented practitioner and clinic protocols and dosing or safety patterns that converge across credentialed sources where formal trials are thin or absent, plus mechanistic reasoning backed by adjacent human data. It is useful but explicitly weaker than Clinical; single-source opinion, influencer claims and vendor marketing do not qualify. Experimental (early, unproven) covers preclinical findings, mechanistic hypotheses awaiting human data, and aggregated, structured self-report.
Why it matters
Much peptide information presents a rat study, a clinic protocol and a phase 3 trial in the same confident voice. The lane tells you which one you are looking at before you act on it. Three rules govern assignment: lanes follow the strength of the evidence, not a compound's popularity; a lane is downgraded when its evidence is contested; and a claim that sits between lanes goes in the weaker one, with a caveat. No vendor can pay to be graded up a lane, and DoseCraft's assistant is built not to present Experimental claims as Clinical fact.
The lanes are plain-language labels, not formal GRADE ratings, and they do not map one-to-one onto GRADE levels. GRADE, used by many guideline groups, rates a whole body of evidence for a specific question as high, moderate, low or very low certainty, starting randomized trials at high and observational studies at low, then adjusting for bias, imprecision, inconsistency, indirectness and publication bias. A lane describes how strong the data are. It is not a recommendation to use any compound.
How to read a lane label
- Look at the lane on the specific claim (dose range, half-life, interaction, use case), not just at the compound.
- Clinical (cyan): published human data exist for that use, dose or endpoint. Still check whether the population and dose match yours.
- Expert (orange): credentialed practitioners converge on it, but trial evidence is thin or absent. Treat it as a working pattern, not an established fact.
- Experimental (purple): animal, cell, mechanistic or self-report data. Read the label as a caution.
- Check the sources listed with the claim to see where it came from.
Common mistakes
- Reading the lane as a verdict on the whole compound; it describes one claim.
- Treating Expert as equal to Clinical because clinicians are involved.
- Reading an Experimental label as an endorsement; the methodology calls it a caution.
- Assuming a Clinical-lane claim means a compound is right for you; the lane grades the data, not your situation.
- Ignoring a caveat on a claim that was graded down because it sat between lanes.
Sources
- GuidelineGRADE: an emerging consensus on rating quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. BMJ, 2008. PMID 18436948.
- GuidelineGRADE guidelines: 3. Rating the quality of evidence. J Clin Epidemiol, 2011. PMID 21208779.
Page updated . How we grade evidence: methodology.
Related Terms
Clinical Trial
A clinical trial is a planned study that tests a drug or other intervention in people under a written protocol, usually run in phases 1 through 4.
Preclinical Study
A preclinical study tests a compound in cells or tissue (in vitro) or in living animals (in vivo), before or instead of testing it in people.
Practitioner Corpus
The practitioner corpus is the practitioner and clinic protocol material in DoseCraft's sources; claims from it are labeled Expert, apart from trial evidence.
Mechanistic Study
A mechanistic study investigates how a compound acts, such as which receptors, pathways or genes it affects, rather than whether it improves health outcomes.
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