Antibody Review Criteria
Our transparent 1–5 star rating system helps researchers quickly assess antibody performance, specificity, reproducibility, and reliability based on validated experimental evidence.
★ 1 Star
- Very poor or no signal in the intended application
- High background or nonspecific staining
- Failure to discriminate target vs off-target in controls
- Review indicates "don't use" recommendation
★★ 2 Stars
- Weak or inconsistent signal; sometimes above noise, sometimes absent
- Poor signal-to-noise ratio; not confidently interpretable
- Non-specificity; results unreliable
- Review indicates "low confidence" recommendation
★★★ 3 Stars
- Moderate signal—detectable but not ideal
- Acceptable signal-to-noise, but some off-target binding or ambiguous staining
- Usable with careful protocols; may require optimization
- Review indicates some limitations (e.g. dilution or tissue-specific issues)
★★★★ 4 Stars
- Strong, consistent, specific signal across multiple experiments
- Clean staining with low background
- Cross-validated in multiple labs or sample types
- Minor caveats noted (e.g. works well, but not optimized for certain tissues)
★★★★★ 5 Stars
- Robust, reproducible, high-specificity staining with excellent signal-to-noise
- Demonstrated performance with knockout/negative controls or orthogonal assays
- Verified across multiple experiments
- Review indicates reliability ("high confidence", "excellent specificity") and clear expected pattern