Elicit
AI-powered assistant that automates literature reviews by semantically searching and extracting structured data from academic research.
What is Elicit?
Elicit is a specialized AI research assistant built to support academic and systematic literature review workflows. Originating from Ought and incorporated as a public benefit corporation in 2023, it allows users to perform semantic search across over 138 million academic papers and 545,000 clinical trials, extract structured data into custom tables, generate automated synthesis reports, and integrate with reference managers—all powered through transparent, citation-backed AI reasoning. The platform offers tiered access via a freemium model, ranging from lightweight free usage to full-scale systematic review and collaboration capabilities in its paid plans.
What you can do with it
Systematic literature reviews
Automates screening, extraction, and reporting workflows to dramatically speed up review construction.
Meta‑analyses and structured synthesis
Extracts key variables across studies (e.g. sample sizes, methods, outcomes) into exportable tables.
Academic coursework and dissertation preparation
Enables students to generate summaries and structured data from literature for assignments or theses.
Monitoring emerging research
Sets topic alerts to surface new studies matching defined themes without manual searching.
Team‑based research collaboration
Allows multiple users to collaborate in real time on extraction tables and review workflows.
Key features
- Semantic natural-language search across over 138 million academic papers and 545,000+ clinical trials
- Automated structured data extraction with customizable table columns and sentence‑level citations
- Guided systematic review workflow including AI-powered screening and PRISMA‑style reporting
- Automated research report generation with multi‑page evidence summaries and diagrams
- PDF upload and chat interface for querying private document libraries with attribution
- Export capabilities to formats like CSV, RIS, BIB, DOCX, PDF, plus API access
- Team collaboration tools including live editing, usage tracking, and seat management
Screenshots
Inputs / Outputs
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
Semantic search across vast research corpus
Allows natural-language queries over 138M+ papers and clinical trials, overcoming keyword limitations.
Structured data extraction with citations
Customizable extraction tables with high accuracy and sentence-level source citations enable faster systematic reviews.
Automated report generation
Produces multi-page, citable research summaries and workflows aligned with systematic review practices.
Integration with academic tools
Exports to common reference formats (RIS, BibTeX, CSV), and integrates with Zotero/Mendeley/EndNote.
Scalable pricing tiers
Freemium entry point with progressively richer capabilities in Plus, Pro, Team, and Enterprise tiers.
Limitations
Limited coverage of paywalled literature
Relies on open-access datasets—may miss subscription-only papers unless separately uploaded.
Semantic search may omit some studies
May miss up to ~15% of relevant articles; supplementing with traditional keyword searches is advisable.
Free plan has limited report credits
Offers just 2 automated reports/month or limited credits, insufficient for heavy users.
Academic focus limits generality
Not designed for business or general-purpose content generation; excels only in academic research contexts.
Pricing & Plans
Model: Freemium
Basic (Free)
Unlimited semantic search across academic papers, 2 automated reports/month, limited Research Agent access, basic data extraction columns, view sources, Zotero import
Plus
Increased Research Agent access, exports to RIS/CSV/BIB/DOCX, 4 reports/month, more extraction columns, includes ClinicalTrials coverage
Pro
Dedicated systematic review workflow (screen 5,000 papers), up to 144 reports/year, extensive extraction columns, API access, research alerts, custom templates, AI explanations
Scale (Team)
Live team collaboration, figure interpretation, admin panel, up to 240 reports/year, more data‑source extraction, full Research Agent access
Basic free plan; Plus around $12/month ($10–$12/mo billed annually); Pro about $49/month ($42–$49/mo annual); Team around $79/month ($65–$79/mo annual); Enterprise custom pricing.
Who it's for
Ideal for
Academic researchers, graduate students, policy analysts, and systematic review teams seeking to streamline structured literature reviews with rigorous, citation-backed AI assistance.
Not ideal for
Content creators, marketers, business analysts, or general knowledge workers needing non-academic writing, market research, or broad generative AI capabilities.
What users say
- Time savings in systematic reviews
- High extraction accuracy and transparency
- Academic workflow efficiency
- Freemium accessibility
- Coverage limitations due to paywalls
Prompts & Results
›Find and summarize key methodological details across randomized controlled trials of intervention X.
Elicit searches semantically, screens relevant RCTs, extracts columns like study size, intervention parameters, outcomes, with sentence-level citations, and generates a structured report.
›Track new publications on topic Y.
On Pro and above, Elicit sets up AI-powered Research Alerts to notify you when new papers matching topic Y are published.
FAQ
Can I use Elicit for free?+
Yes—Elicit offers a Basic free plan with unlimited search over its indexed corpus but limited report credits (e.g., 2 reports/month) and extraction columns.
How much does the Pro plan cost?+
Pro is approximately $49/month (billed about $42–$49/month annually) and unlocks guided systematic review workflows, more extraction columns, and research alerts.
Does Elicit integrate with reference managers?+
Yes—exports in RIS, BibTeX, CSV, and DOCX formats enable direct import into Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote.
What is structured data extraction?+
Elicit lets you define custom data table columns (e.g., sample size, methodology), and it populates them automatically with values and source citations from multiple papers.
Ratings & Reviews
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