Our editorial standards
DOTS Calculator exists to give lifters accurate numbers and clear explanations. That only works if our sourcing and review process are trustworthy, so here’s exactly how we build and maintain the site.
How we source formulas and data
Every scoring formula on this Site — DOTS, Wilks, Wilks 2, IPF GL, Sinclair, Glossbrenner — is implemented directly from its original published source: federation technical documents (IPF, IWF), the peer-reviewed or federation-published coefficient tables, or, where a formula was revised, the federation’s own announcement of the revision. Each calculator’s guide article names its source. General guidance content, such as our Strength Standards charts, is synthesized from the broad consensus across multiple public strength-standards datasets and is explicitly labeled as a general population benchmark rather than an official standard.
Review and verification process
Before a calculator goes live, we cross-check its output against at least one independently published worked example where one exists (for instance, a federation’s own sample calculation), and we numerically test the underlying code. If no independent worked example is available for a formula, we say so in the calculator’s guide.
Corrections
We get things wrong sometimes — a coefficient typo, an outdated cycle, a stale link. When we do:
- We fix the error as soon as it’s verified
- For a materially significant correction (one that changes a calculator’s output), we note the correction and date on the relevant page
- We welcome correction reports from anyone — see Contact
Editorial independence from advertising
Advertising and affiliate revenue support this Site (see our Affiliate Disclosure), but no advertiser or affiliate partner has input into which formulas we implement, how we explain them, or what our articles conclude. Ads are never placed inside a calculator’s input flow.
Use of AI tools
Some content on this Site is drafted with the assistance of AI writing tools and is reviewed and edited by our editorial team before publication, with formulas and factual claims checked against primary sources as described above.
Updates
Formulas that are periodically revised by their governing body (for example, the IWF’s Sinclair coefficients, updated each Olympic cycle) are reviewed against the current official publication and updated when a new cycle takes effect.
Questions about our sourcing
If you’d like to see the specific source behind any number on this Site, email corrections@dotscalculator.net and we’ll point you to it.