Elicit is a generative AI research assistant designed to accelerate evidence-based reasoning, particularly in academic, scientific, and analytical fields. It helps users extract, summarize, and synthesize insights from research papers and data sources by automating key parts of the literature review and question-answering processes.

Target users include researchers, analysts, students, policy professionals, and teams in R&D or strategy roles. Elicit is especially useful in academia, public policy, healthcare, and any domain where decisions depend on complex information retrieval and synthesis.

Key features include semantic paper search, AI-generated summaries, structured evidence extraction, and reasoning support. Elicit stands out by focusing not just on generating content but on enhancing critical thinking and reducing time spent on manual information triage.

What are the main features of Elicit?

Semantic search across academic literature

Elicit enables users to search for research papers using natural language queries rather than keywords.

• Uses semantic retrieval to return relevant studies even when they don’t share surface-level terms.

• Ranks and displays papers by relevance to a specific research question.

• Retrieves data from open-access sources such as Semantic Scholar.

This approach helps uncover studies that traditional search tools may miss.

AI-generated evidence summaries

Elicit summarizes and organizes key findings from scientific papers into a digestible format.

• Automatically extracts information like sample size, methodology, and outcomes.

• Presents findings in a table format for side-by-side comparison.

• Highlights limitations and uncertainties when present.

Saves time during literature reviews by condensing multiple papers into structured insights.

Structured data extraction and comparison

The tool allows users to pull specific information from papers to build comparative tables or datasets.

• Extracts variables like interventions, population characteristics, or measured outcomes.

• Enables custom columns to compare across studies.

• Reduces manual data entry in evidence synthesis workflows.

This is particularly helpful for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Support for complex reasoning and analysis

Elicit assists with deeper analysis beyond simple summarization.

• Breaks down multi-step reasoning processes (e.g., What is the effect of X on Y?).

• Helps users map out assumptions, causal relationships, or evidence gaps.

• Encourages critical reflection instead of providing definitive answers.

This makes it suitable for users who need AI to augment—not replace—human judgment.

Workflow integration for researchers

Elicit is built to fit into typical research workflows without requiring coding or technical expertise.

• No installation required; runs in the browser.

• Allows saving, exporting, and organizing results within projects.

• Integrates with citation managers and supports CSV exports.

Designed to support iterative, ongoing research over time.

Why choose Elicit?

• Focused on reasoning, not just generation: Unlike general-purpose LLMs, Elicit is optimized for critical thinking and structured research tasks.

• Streamlines literature review: It dramatically reduces the time spent searching, comparing, and extracting from academic papers.

• Transparent and editable results: Users can inspect, correct, and refine AI outputs—making it a collaborative tool, not a black box.

• Built for evidence-based work: The tool is tailored for scientific rigor and accountability, rather than informal content generation.

• Accessible and lightweight: Browser-based, easy to use, and suitable for solo researchers or teams alike.