Elicit
Elicit is an AI research assistant that uses machine learning to help automate research workflows. It can find relevant papers without needing exact keyword mat...
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What is Elicit?
Elicit is an AI assistant for scientific research that helps researchers and academics find, summarize, and extract data from academic papers. The tool searches over 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials using semantic search, meaning users don't need exact keywords to find relevant results. Elicit summarizes findings from papers, allows users to chat with papers, and extracts structured data into customizable tables.
Key features include Research Reports that generate high-quality research briefs inspired by systematic reviews, Systematic Literature Review automation that screens and extracts data from papers (saving researchers up to 80% time), a Library for organizing sources, and Alerts to stay updated on new research. The tool also supports data extraction with customizable columns where users specify what information to extract and how to format it.
Elicit is built for researchers in academia and industry, including students, consultants, and educators. It's particularly valuable for anyone conducting literature reviews, systematic reviews, or evidence synthesis. With over 2 million users, Elicit helps scientists understand what science already knows so they can discover the unknown and make breakthroughs in areas like disease elimination, poverty alleviation, and creating thriving communities.
Elicit pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Elicit offers a free Basic tier ($0/mo) with unlimited search across 138 million papers, unlimited summaries, unlimited chat with papers, 2 automated reports per month, limited Research Agent access, 2 columns per table, and Zotero import. The Pro plan is $49/mo per user (billed $588 annually) including dedicated Systematic Review Workflow for 5,000 papers, 144 reports/systematic reviews per year, extended Research Agent access, 20 columns per table, extraction from 135 data sources, 10 personalized research alerts, and API access. The Scale plan is $169/mo per user (billed $2,028 annually) with everything in Pro plus full Research Agent access. Annual billing provides 35% discount. Enterprise pricing is custom on request.
Elicit pros
- Searches 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials
- Semantic search doesn't require exact keywords
- Generates customizable Research Reports inspired by systematic reviews
- Automates screening and data extraction for systematic reviews
- Up to 80% time savings for systematic reviews
- Unlimited search across all papers on free tier
- Unlimited summaries across as many papers as you want
- Unlimited chat with papers with full-text access
- Customizable columns for data extraction from papers
- Columns can pull data from body text or tables
- Library feature to organize sources for future projects
- Alerts feature to track new research without inbox clutter
- Zotero import capability
- API access on paid plans
- Clean, well-organized interface
- Links to sources allow checking for hallucinations
- Extracts up to 135 data sources on Pro plan
- Dedicated Systematic Review Workflow screens 5,000 papers
- Extended access to Research Agent on paid plans
- Personalized research alerts available
Elicit cons
- Free tier has limited data extraction (10 papers of 50 screened)
- Should not replace library databases and critical thinking
- May miss some bibliographic elements in citation export
- Not a reference manager - need Zotero for citation management
- Does not generate literature review text
- Limited access to Research Agent on free tier
- Only 2 columns per table on free plan
- Only 2 automated reports per month on free tier
- Paid plans required for full data extraction features
- No smartphone app mentioned
Frequently asked questions about Elicit
Is Elicit free?
Yes, Elicit offers a free Basic tier that includes unlimited search across more than 138 million papers, unlimited summaries across as many papers as you want, unlimited chat with papers with full-text access, 2 automated reports per month, limited access to Research Agent, 2 columns per table, and Zotero import. Paid plans (Pro at $49/mo and Scale at $169/mo) unlock higher limits and advanced features like dedicated systematic review workflows and API access.
What data sources do you have access to?
Elicit searches over 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials. The tool searches Semantic Scholar for references and includes more data sources coming soon. Papers can be extracted from up to 135 data sources on the Pro plan.
Who is Elicit built for?
Elicit is built for researchers and academics in both academia and industry. It's suitable for students, consultants, educators, and anyone conducting literature reviews, systematic reviews, or evidence synthesis. Over 2 million researchers currently use Elicit.
How do you rank sources or determine quality?
Elicit uses an LLM-powered semantic search system with multiple stages: (1) initial semantic embedding-based retrieval using neural language models for conceptual similarity, (2) relevancy scoring using a transformer-based relevance classification model trained to evaluate topical alignment, (3) selection of top 500 papers by relevance score, and (4) explicit screening against inclusion/exclusion criteria. The re-ranking algorithm prioritizes papers with highest topical relevance.
How are Elicit Reports different from other Deep Research tools?
Elicit Reports generate high-quality research briefs based on a process inspired by systematic reviews, the gold standard for synthesizing scientific literature. Unlike other AI tools, Elicit Reports can be deeply customized - users can change which papers and what information is covered in the reports. Reports conduct a fully-automated rapid review including search, screening, and data extraction.
What is the main workflow in Elicit?
The main workflow in Elicit is the Literature Review. When you ask a question, Elicit shows relevant papers and summaries of key information about those papers in an easy-to-use table. After literature review, Elicit will expand to other research tasks like evaluating project directions, decomposing research questions, and augmented reading.
Does Elicit save researchers time?
Yes. Researchers report up to 80% time savings using Elicit for systematic reviews. One developer stated that Elicit saves researchers an average of 1.4 hours per week. The tool automates screening and data extraction, which are time-intensive parts of systematic reviews.
Can I upload my own PDFs to Elicit?
Yes, Elicit allows users to upload their own PDFs to analyze and organize multiple papers. The tool can summarize evidence from uploaded papers and extract data from them.
Does Elicit generate literature review text?
No. Elicit extracts data and organizes papers but does not generate literature review text. It is a research discovery and screening tool, not a writing assistant. Users still need to write the literature review themselves using the organized data and summaries Elicit provides.
Is Elicit a reference manager?
No. Elicit is a research discovery and screening tool, not a reference manager. You still need Zotero or another reference manager for citation management. However, Elicit supports Zotero import and offers CSV/BIB/RIS export on paid plans for easier citation transfer.