Peptide research glossary

Assay: A defined procedure for measuring a property or quantity. Read its units and reporting basis.
Batch / lot: An identifier linking material to a specified production group. Match it across the item and its documents.
Comparator: The reference against which an intervention is evaluated, such as placebo, usual care or another treatment.
Confidence interval: A range expressing statistical uncertainty around an estimate under a stated method. It is not a range guaranteed for an individual outcome.
Endpoint: An outcome used to evaluate a research question. Primary, secondary and exploratory endpoints have different roles.
In vitro: Research performed outside a whole living organism, for example in cultured cells.
In vivo: Research in a living organism. The organism may be an animal or a human; check which.
Observational study: Research that observes or collects information without researchers assigning the intervention.
Pharmacokinetics: How a substance’s concentration changes over time through processes such as absorption and elimination.
Placebo: A comparison designed to resemble the intervention without its active component.
Primary source: The original research, document or record behind a factual statement, rather than a later retelling.
Randomization: Assignment by chance to study groups, used to reduce systematic differences between groups.
Surrogate endpoint: A measure used as a stand-in for another outcome. Improvement in the measure does not automatically establish improvement in the outcome of interest.
Traceability: The ability to follow an item, sample or result through its identifiers and documented source trail.

A useful research vocabulary.

Sources and further reading