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Elicit

Freemium
ai research assistantliterature reviewacademic researchsystematic reviewtext summarizationdata extractionllmsciencephd

Elicit is an AI research assistant that automates literature reviews by finding relevant papers, extracting key data, and synthesizing findings to dramatically accelerate the scientific research process for academics and analysts.


Elicit is an AI-powered research tool designed to streamline systematic literature reviews for academics, graduate students, and policy analysts. Unlike traditional search engines, Elicit uses large language models to find relevant papers based on natural language questions, even without exact keyword matches. Its core value proposition is the ability to not just find papers, but to actively extract and synthesize information from them into a structured, customizable table. Users can define columns for specific data points like population size, methodology, or outcomes, and Elicit will scan the papers to populate this data. This transforms the tedious process of manual data extraction, allowing researchers to quickly get a high-level overview of a field, identify patterns, and build a foundational dataset for their work.

Pros

  • Finds relevant papers using natural language queries, surfacing results that keyword searches might miss.
  • Automates the extraction of specific data points from multiple papers into a structured, customizable table.
  • Provides summaries of abstracts and key takeaways to speed up paper screening.
  • Allows users to upload their own library of PDFs and run the same powerful queries on them.
  • Exports data cleanly to CSV and BibTeX formats, integrating well with existing research workflows.
  • Helps identify conceptual gaps and themes across a wide body of literature.

Cons

  • The credit system can be consumed quickly, potentially leading to higher-than-expected costs for extensive research.
  • As with any LLM, it can occasionally misinterpret or 'hallucinate' information, requiring user verification of critical data.
  • Effectiveness is reduced for papers behind hard paywalls if the user does not have institutional access.
  • The interface, while powerful, has a steeper learning curve than simple search tools like Google Scholar.

Key features

  • Literature Review Workflow
  • Natural Language Question-Answering
  • Automated Data Extraction to Custom Columns
  • Abstract & Paper Summarization
  • Upload and Analyze Local PDFs
  • Export to CSV and BibTeX
  • Integration with Zotero

Integrations

ZoteroMendeley (via RIS)EndNote (via RIS)Papers (via RIS)CSV ExportBibTeX ExportPDF Upload

Target audience

Academic researchers, PhD and graduate students, policy analysts, and scientists conducting literature reviews or evidence synthesis.


Ratings & Reviews

0.0

Based on 0 reviews

Key Metrics

Active Users

1M+ users

Founded

2019

Headquarters

Oakland, USA

Pricing Tiers

Basic

5,000 one-time starting credits. Best for trying Elicit on a small project.

Free

Plus

12,000 credits per month. Includes high-priority access during peak times, the ability to upload your own papers, and access to newer, experimental features. Billed annually at $120/year or monthly at a higher rate.

$12/mo

Enterprise and Labs

For institutions and research teams. Includes all Plus features plus team-level credit and user management, SSO, and dedicated support.

Custom


Frequently Asked Questions


Top Alternatives to Elicit

Semantic Scholar

A great free alternative for AI-powered paper discovery and finding connections, but it lacks Elicit's workflow for custom data extraction across many papers.

Scite.ai

Choose Scite if your primary goal is to understand how a paper has been cited and whether its findings are supported, as it focuses on citation context rather than content summarization.

Consensus

Consensus is better for quickly getting direct answers to a question from research, whereas Elicit is built for the broader task of building and exporting a full literature review table.

Connected Papers

This tool excels at visually mapping a field of research to find related works, making it a better choice for initial exploration before a deep dive with a tool like Elicit.

Ready to get started?

Join thousands of users and see how Elicit can transform your workflow today.

Visit Elicit