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Elicit

by Elicit

4.0

197 reviews

AI research assistant for systematic reviews with paper search, data extraction, and synthesis across 125M+ papers

📌Key Takeaways

  • 1Elicit is a ai research AI agent by Elicit, founded in 2021.
  • 2AI research assistant for systematic reviews with paper search, data extraction, and synthesis across 125M+ papers
  • 3Top strengths: Semantic Paper Search: Elicit's semantic search capability goes beyond keyword matching to understand the conceptual meaning behind research questions. When users enter a qu...; Automated Data Extraction: Elicit's data extraction engine automatically reads through research papers and pulls out structured information based on user-defined columns. Resear....
  • 4Rated 4.0/5 based on 197 reviews.

Category

AI Research

Founded

2021

Overview

Elicit is a groundbreaking AI-powered research assistant that fundamentally transforms how academics, scientists, and professionals conduct literature reviews and synthesize scholarly knowledge. Built on advanced large language models, Elicit goes far beyond traditional academic search engines by not only finding relevant papers but actively reading, analyzing, and extracting structured information from them at unprecedented scale. The platform addresses one of the most time-consuming challenges in research: the systematic review of academic literature. Where traditional approaches require researchers to manually read through hundreds or thousands of papers to identify relevant findings, methodologies, and data points, Elicit automates this process using sophisticated natural language processing. Users can pose research questions in plain language, and the system intelligently searches across millions of academic papers, identifies the most relevant sources, and extracts specific information such as study populations, sample sizes, methodologies, key findings, and limitations. Elicit's core value proposition centers on dramatically accelerating the research workflow while maintaining academic rigor. The platform enables researchers to analyze hundreds of papers in the time it would traditionally take to thoroughly read just a handful. This efficiency gain doesn't come at the cost of accuracy—Elicit provides transparent citations and allows users to verify extracted information against source documents. The tool is particularly valuable for systematic literature reviews, meta-analyses, grant proposal preparation, and staying current with rapidly evolving research fields. It serves a diverse user base including PhD students conducting dissertation research, professors preparing comprehensive review articles, healthcare professionals evaluating clinical evidence, policy researchers synthesizing findings for decision-makers, and R&D teams in pharmaceutical and technology companies tracking scientific developments. Elicit represents a new paradigm in research tools, moving beyond simple search functionality to become an intelligent research partner that can understand context, extract nuanced information, and help researchers identify patterns and gaps across large bodies of literature. The platform continues to evolve with new capabilities for data extraction, synthesis, and collaborative research workflows.

🎯 Key Differentiator

AI-Extracted

Automated paper analysis with AI-powered extraction of key findings, methodologies, sample sizes, and structured data without manual reading

Elicit uses large language models to automatically extract structured information from research papers, allowing users to analyze hundreds of papers in the time it would take to manually read a few. Unlike traditional academic search engines that only return paper titles and abstracts, Elicit reads full-text PDFs and extracts specific data points like study populations, intervention details, outcome measures, and statistical results. This capability has been validated by researchers conducting systematic reviews who report 10x or greater efficiency improvements in their literature review workflows.

This differentiator was AI-extracted from competitive research.

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Last verified: January 28, 2026

Key Features

Semantic Paper Search

Elicit's semantic search capability goes beyond keyword matching to understand the conceptual meaning behind research questions. When users enter a query like 'What interventions reduce anxiety in college students?', the system interprets the underlying research intent and searches across millions of academic papers to find semantically relevant results—even if papers don't contain the exact search terms. The AI understands synonyms, related concepts, and contextual relationships, surfacing papers that traditional keyword searches would miss. Results are ranked by relevance to the specific research question rather than just citation count or recency. Researchers discover more relevant papers faster, including studies they would have missed with traditional keyword-based searches.

Automated Data Extraction

Elicit's data extraction engine automatically reads through research papers and pulls out structured information based on user-defined columns. Researchers can specify what data points they need—such as sample size, study duration, intervention type, primary outcomes, effect sizes, or limitations—and Elicit will extract this information from each paper in a systematic, tabular format. The system handles variations in how information is presented across different papers and journals, normalizing extracted data for easy comparison. Users can export extracted data to spreadsheets for further analysis or meta-analysis calculations. Transforms weeks of manual data extraction work into hours, enabling more comprehensive systematic reviews with larger paper sets.

Research Synthesis & Summarization

Beyond individual paper analysis, Elicit synthesizes findings across multiple papers to identify patterns, consensus views, and contradictions in the literature. The platform can generate summaries that aggregate key findings from dozens of papers, highlighting where studies agree, where they diverge, and what gaps exist in current research. This synthesis capability helps researchers quickly understand the state of knowledge on a topic without reading every paper in detail. The AI identifies methodological trends, common limitations, and emerging research directions across the literature. Enables researchers to rapidly develop comprehensive understanding of research landscapes and identify opportunities for novel contributions.

Citation & Source Verification

Elicit maintains rigorous academic standards by providing transparent citations and direct links to source documents for all extracted information. Every data point, quote, or finding extracted by the AI includes a citation to the specific paper and often the specific section where the information was found. Users can click through to verify any extracted information against the original source, ensuring accuracy and enabling proper academic citation. The platform also flags when information is uncertain or when papers contain conflicting claims. Maintains academic integrity and enables researchers to confidently cite findings while quickly verifying AI-extracted information.

Custom Research Workflows

Elicit supports flexible research workflows that adapt to different research methodologies and project requirements. Users can create custom extraction templates with specific columns tailored to their research questions, save and reuse search strategies across projects, and organize papers into collections for different aspects of their research. The platform supports iterative refinement of searches and extractions, allowing researchers to progressively narrow focus or expand scope as their understanding develops. Collaboration features enable research teams to share workflows and build on each other's work. Adapts to diverse research needs from quick literature scans to comprehensive systematic reviews requiring PRISMA-compliant documentation.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • +Semantic Paper Search: Elicit's semantic search capability goes beyond keyword matching to understand the conceptual meaning behind research questions. When users enter a qu...
  • +Automated Data Extraction: Elicit's data extraction engine automatically reads through research papers and pulls out structured information based on user-defined columns. Resear...
  • +Research Synthesis & Summarization: Beyond individual paper analysis, Elicit synthesizes findings across multiple papers to identify patterns, consensus views, and contradictions in the...
  • +Citation & Source Verification: Elicit maintains rigorous academic standards by providing transparent citations and direct links to source documents for all extracted information. Ev...
  • +Custom Research Workflows: Elicit supports flexible research workflows that adapt to different research methodologies and project requirements. Users can create custom extractio...

Cons

  • AI-generated content requires human review to ensure accuracy and brand voice consistency.
  • Initial setup and integration may require technical resources or onboarding support.
  • Feature depth means users may not utilize all capabilities, potentially reducing ROI for simpler use cases.

Frequently Asked Questions

Elicit is a groundbreaking AI-powered research assistant that fundamentally transforms how academics, scientists, and professionals conduct literature reviews and synthesize scholarly knowledge. Built on advanced large language models, Elicit goes far beyond traditional academic search engines by not only finding relevant papers but actively reading, analyzing, and extracting structured informatio...
Elicit offers: Semantic Paper Search: Elicit's semantic search capability goes beyond keyword matching to understand the conceptual meanin. Automated Data Extraction: Elicit's data extraction engine automatically reads through research papers and pulls out structured. Research Synthesis & Summarization: Beyond individual paper analysis, Elicit synthesizes findings across multiple papers to identify pat. Citation & Source Verification: Elicit maintains rigorous academic standards by providing transparent citations and direct links to . Custom Research Workflows: Elicit supports flexible research workflows that adapt to different research methodologies and proje.
1. Semantic Paper Search: Elicit's semantic search capability goes beyond keyword matching to understand the conceptual meaning behind research questions. When users enter a qu... 2. Automated Data Extraction: Elicit's data extraction engine automatically reads through research papers and pulls out structured information based on user-defined columns. Resear... 3. Research Synthesis & Summarization: Beyond individual paper analysis, Elicit synthesizes findings across multiple papers to identify patterns, consensus views, and contradictions in the...
1. AI-generated content requires human review to ensure accuracy and brand voice consistency. 2. Initial setup and integration may require technical resources or onboarding support. 3. Feature depth means users may not utilize all capabilities, potentially reducing ROI for simpler use cases.
Elicit was founded in 2021. The company has raised $9M+. This varies based on your specific requirements, industry, company size, and use case. For detailed information tailored to your situation, consult with the vendor or implementation partner who can provide guidance based on their experience with similar organizations. Most providers offer demos, trials, or consultations to help you evaluate fit before committing.
Elicit uses a freemium pricing model. This varies based on your specific requirements, industry, company size, and use case. For detailed information tailored to your situation, consult with the vendor or implementation partner who can provide guidance based on their experience with similar organizations. Most providers offer demos, trials, or consultations to help you evaluate fit before committing.
Common use cases for Elicit include: Systematic review workflow, Data extraction. This functionality is designed to streamline workflows and improve efficiency. Features may include automation, analytics, reporting, and collaboration tools. Specific capabilities depend on the plan level and product version you choose. Advanced features may require add-ons or enterprise plans.
Automated paper analysis with AI-powered extraction of key findings, methodologies, sample sizes, and structured data without manual reading. Elicit uses large language models to automatically extract structured information from research papers, allowing users to analyze hundreds of papers in the time it would take to manually read a few. Unlike traditional academic search engines that only return paper titles and abstracts, Elicit reads full-text PDFs and extracts specific data points like study populations, intervention details, outcome measures, and statistical results. This capability has been validated by researchers conducting systematic reviews who report 10x or greater efficiency improvements in their literature review workflows.
Elicit serves various industries including: Academic Research, Healthcare & Medical Research, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology, Policy Research & Think Tanks, Technology & AI Research. Elicit serves as an essential tool for academic researchers across all disciplines who need to conduct literature reviews, prepare grant proposals, or stay current with developments in their fields. PhD students use Elicit to efficiently survey existing literature for dissertation research, identifying gaps their work can address. Faculty researchers leverage the platform to prepare comprehensive review articles and ensure their work builds appropriately on prior findings. The tool is particularly valuable in fast-moving fields where the volume of new publications makes manual tracking impractical.

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