Elicit

What is Elicit?

Elicit is an AI-powered research assistant designed to streamline the academic research process. Developed by Ought, a non-profit AI research lab, Elicit uses natural language processing and machine learning to help researchers find relevant papers, summarize key findings, extract important data, and answer specific research questions. The platform aims to reduce the time-consuming aspects of literature review and research synthesis, allowing researchers to focus more on analysis and original work.

Key Features

Elicit offers an array of features designed to accelerate research workflows. Its paper search and discovery tools help find relevant academic literature using natural language queries rather than just keywords. The automatic literature review feature can analyze multiple papers to identify patterns and key findings across studies. Other capabilities include paper summarization that extracts core methodologies and results, data extraction from tables and figures, research question answering based on available literature, citation management, and bibliographic analysis to identify research trends and influential papers in specific fields.

Who Should Use Elicit?

Elicit is particularly valuable for academic researchers, scientists, Ph.D. students, research analysts, and professionals who regularly need to review scientific literature. It's especially useful for those conducting literature reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses. Graduate students working on theses or dissertations benefit from its ability to quickly identify relevant research. Healthcare professionals, policy researchers, and data scientists also find value in Elicit's ability to synthesize research findings across multiple studies. While beneficial for various disciplines, Elicit currently shows particular strength in fields like medicine, psychology, economics, and computer science.

Pricing

Elicit offers a tiered pricing structure starting with a limited free plan that provides access to basic search and summarization features. The Pro plan begins at $10/month with annual billing and includes full access to all research features with higher usage limits. Team and Enterprise plans with custom pricing add collaboration features, administrative controls, and priority support. Educational discounts are available for students and academic institutions. The pricing reflects the specialized nature of the tool and its value for professional researchers who can save significant time on literature reviews and research synthesis.

User Experience

Users consistently highlight Elicit's intuitive interface that makes complex research tasks accessible without sacrificing depth. Researchers appreciate the natural language query system that allows them to ask research questions in plain English rather than constructing complex Boolean searches. The paper summarization receives particular praise for its ability to extract key methodology details and findings accurately. While users note occasional inaccuracies or gaps in coverage for certain research fields, most find that the time savings and discovery capabilities far outweigh these limitations. The continuous improvements to the platform based on user feedback also receive positive mention.

Bottom Line

Elicit stands out as a specialized AI research assistant that effectively addresses many pain points in the academic research process. Its focus on scientific literature and research synthesis distinguishes it from general-purpose AI tools. While it works best as a complement to rather than replacement for traditional research methods, it significantly accelerates literature reviews and helps researchers discover relevant papers they might otherwise miss. For academics, scientists, and research professionals who regularly work with scientific literature, Elicit offers substantial time savings and improved research efficiency that justifies its subscription cost.