Scite
Scite Assistant is an AI-enabled research tool designed to help you find research-backed answers and collaborate on written materials. The tool provides insight...
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What is Scite?
Scite Assistant is an AI research assistant that answers questions using evidence drawn from scholarly literature, returning answers that include cited supporting and contrasting citation statements. It’s designed to let users ask natural-language research questions and receive paragraphs summarizing findings with linked references and visibility into the citations that support each claim. Key features include adjustable source selection (site database, uploaded PDFs, or a personal dashboard), settings to control the years, publication types, number of publications consulted, and whether the assistant must always use references; users can also choose the LLM used to generate responses. The interface displays answers with the underlying citation statements and lets users hover or click to inspect the exact citation context, and it preserves a history of prior questions for easy switching between earlier queries.
Scite pricing
Pricing model: Free
The website describes a free tier that allows access to Scite Assistant features with limited sessions or capabilities, while enterprise or paid plans unlock expanded functionality and institutional integrations; paid plans increase access to the full Scite database, larger query/consultation limits, and enterprise dashboard features. Specific plan names, exact prices, and per-feature boundaries are provided through Scite’s account/enterprise pages and may vary for individual versus institutional subscriptions.
Scite pros
- Answers are grounded in real research articles rather than unreferenced text
- Displays citation statements so you can see the context of each citation
- Can show supporting and contrasting evidence for a claim
- Allows uploading a PDF to make that document a primary source for the answer
- Supports limiting sources to a personal dashboard or selected papers
- Settings let you require the assistant to always use references
- You can restrict results by year range and publication types
- Adjustable number of publications consulted for each response
- Option to choose which LLM model the assistant uses
- Hover or click references to view the exact citation statement
- Search strategy tools let you refine or regenerate answers easily
- Keeps a chronological list/history of your questions for quick access
- Prioritizes recent or most relevant references when requested
- Helps reduce hallucinations by pointing to primary literature
- Integrates scite’s citation classification (supporting/contrasting) into answers
Scite cons
- Some features require careful settings configuration to avoid missing relevant papers
- Quality of answers depends on the coverage of scite’s database for a topic
- May require an account or institutional access for enterprise features
- Choosing the wrong LLM can change answer style or completeness
- Limiting sources too narrowly can produce biased or incomplete answers
- Relying only on citation statements may miss nuanced details inside full texts
- Uploaded-PDF evidence quality depends on the uploaded file’s clarity and completeness
- Interface and settings have a learning curve for new users
Frequently asked questions about Scite
How does Scite Assistant source the evidence for answers?
Scite Assistant consults scite’s database of scholarly articles and citation statements and can be configured to use the site database, papers selected from your dashboard, or an uploaded PDF; each answer is accompanied by the citation statements that the assistant used as evidence.
Can I force the Assistant to always include references?
Yes — the Assistant has a settings option where you can select ‘always use references’ so responses must be backed by cited material from the chosen sources.
Can I upload my own paper for the Assistant to use?
Yes — you can upload a PDF and instruct the Assistant to use that document as the source pool so the answer is grounded in the uploaded file’s content.
How do I control the time range or publication types the Assistant uses?
Use the Assistant Settings to define year ranges and publication types; these filters narrow the pool of references the Assistant consults when generating an answer.
Does the Assistant identify supporting versus contrasting citations?
Yes — scite’s citation classification is integrated so the Assistant can show whether citation statements support or contrast the claims in its responses.
Can I change which LLM the Assistant uses?
Yes — the settings let you select among available LLM models, and changing the model can affect response style, length, and how the evidence is synthesized.
What happens if I’m unsatisfied with an answer?
You can refine the search using the search strategy option, adjust Assistant settings (sources, years, number of publications), or request regeneration with different parameters to get an updated response.
Is there a limit to how many publications the Assistant consults?
There is a configurable limit in the settings for how many publications the Assistant will consult; increasing that number broadens the evidence base but may affect response length and processing time.
Do I need institutional access to use the Assistant’s full features?
Some enterprise-level features and expanded database access are available via institutional subscriptions; basic access and a free tier are available for individual users but may be limited compared with paid plans.
How does Scite Assistant help reduce hallucinations?
By grounding answers in verifiable citation statements from the scite database and exposing the exact citation context, the Assistant reduces unsupported assertions and makes it easier to verify each claim against source texts.