Elicit.org is an AI-powered research assistant designed to automate key aspects of the literature review process for scientists and academics.
Developed by the nonprofit machine learning lab Ought, Elicit aims to save researchers time by quickly analyzing papers, extracting important information, and mapping connections.
But how well does Elicit work, and is it worth integrating into your research workflow? This 2024 review provides an in-depth look at Elicit’s capabilities, pricing, pros and cons, top alternatives, and more to help you decide.
What is Elicit.org?
Elicit.org functions as a free artificial intelligence (AI) research assistant that streamlines scientific literature reviews using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning.
Specifically, Elicit acts as an automated system for:
- Identifying relevant academic papers for a particular research topic
- Extracting key bits of information from publications
- Organizing concepts and data into visual maps
By pulling sources from the Semantic Scholar database, Elicit accelerates the process of analyzing existing research significantly. This allows scientists to synthesize evidence and derive insights more efficiently.
How Elicit.org Works
Elicit runs on powerful language models designed by Ought to comprehend scientific documents the same way a human would. The system:
- Takes in a seed paper or search query on a specific research concept
- Matches other closely related academic papers using semantics and ontology
- Extracts salient points, statistical findings, hypotheses and inferences
- Structures this key information into research concept map visualizations
This unique approach allows Elicit automate the most tedious parts of conducting a literature review, while enabling researchers to quickly validate results and pursue promising threads.
Features of Elicit.org
Elicit comes packed with features aimed at augmenting scientists’ abilities to deeply understand and synthesize subject matter published across a wide berth of journals and publications, including:
Automated Literature Analysis: Elicit reviews sourced literature using NLP techniques like named entity recognition, information retrieval and text summarization to pull insight.
Concept Mapping: Visualize connections between findings, theories and topics discussed across sourced content via interactive graphs.
Contextual Recommendations: Related papers and concepts that provide additional context are suggested while reviewing content Elicit surfaces.
Multiple Export Options: Seamlessly save out maps, extracted findings and paper collections to cloud drives, local storage and applications.
Open Source Technology: As a nonprofit research endeavor itself, Elicit is committed to open sourcing its fundamental AI architecture.
How Much Does Elicit.org Cost?
| Plan | Price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Full functionality but usage limits apply |
As a project focused on democratizing scientific research abilities for public good, Elicit.org and all its core features are currently free to use without any paid premium offering.
However, to prevent overuse, limits on monthly searches do apply:
- Up to 50 semantic searches
- Up to 200 paper extractions
- Up to 10 map creations
- Map complexity capped at 30 concepts
While reasonably generous, power researchers may need more volume. In the future as Elicit expands, paid plans that lift restrictions for organizations could become available.
Pros of Elicit.org
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Time Savings | Automates most tedious literature review tasks leading to big productivity boost |
| Better Understanding | Comprehensive analysis provides superior synthesis and insights |
| Evidence-Based Direction | Maps point researchers to next best open questions |
| Free to Use | Core capabilities available without paying compared to competitors |
Specifically, by leveraging the latest AI research techniques tailored for scientific disciplines, common benefits include:
- Up to 90% less time spent on repetitive literature analysis
- Accelerated research cycles through quickly validated findings and directions
- Uncovering hidden connections between papers via semantically-powered recommendations
Cons of Elicit.org
| Drawback | Description |
|---|---|
| Accuracy Issues | Imperfect natural language models can misanalyze papers |
| Semantic Scholar Dependency | Functionality limited to sources indexed in Semantic Scholar database |
| Steep Learning Curve | Onboarding and aligning approach takes time for new users |
However, there are also limitations to consider:
- As an AI assistant, misunderstandings or incorrect extractions can happen forcing manual checks
- Limited scope beyond Semantic Scholar indexed content (86M+ papers)
- Potentially slow UI performance with large concept map visualizations
So Elicit isn’t foolproof. Results must be validated, especially for mission-critical inferences. But it eliminates the grunt work needed to crest the initial insight horizon when kicking off a new literature review.
How to Use Elicit.org: Complete Overview
Getting started with Elicit takes just 5 simple steps:
- Create a free account with your institutional email (takes < 60 seconds)
- Run a search query or upload seed paper PDF to kickstart
- Review extracted entities surfaced and iteratively refine
- Map entities into an ontology, exploring connections
- Export diagrams and paper collections for further analysis
More detailed instructions covering how to sign up, tweak search parameters, arrange maps and resolve extraction errors can be found in Elicit’s comprehensive documentation.
Their team also leads free weekly onboarding webinars to get new users acquainted with key features.
Elicit.org Alternatives
| Tool | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Research Rabbit | Commercial alternative to Elicit with less limits | $29+/mo |
In terms of direct alternatives other than generic search, Research Rabbit is the closest commercial solution available today. Similarly powered by state-of-the-art NLP models, key contrasts include:
- Fully managed cloud offering with24/7 support
- Pay-as-you-go pricing model
- Tighter GPT integration
- PDF uploading capability
Otherwise, scientists can stick to manual literature analysis leveraging academic databases like JSTOR and PubMed for discovery. This open-ended approach involves recursively snowballing citations and tracing avenues as they emerge.
The tradeoff is substantially higher effort and time investment. But some still consider the human touch irreplaceable despite advances in language AI.
Conclusion & Verdict: Elicit.org Review
In the end, Elicit.org earns a strong recommendation as a free supplement for augmenting literature review efficiency leveraging leading language models.
The sheer amount of publications now available at researchers’ fingertips demands new analytical tools up to the challenge.
While still an nascent endeavor requiring iteration, Elicit’s nonprofit ethos and commitment to democratization via AI laudably pushes scientific boundaries – accelerating the path from insight to application.
Just be wise by double checking any mission criticalclaims uncovered before staking months of research on them and be patient with UX kinks.
Overall though, Elicit’s powerful semantic search and extraction capabilities save enormous heartburn if harnessed properly. Any savvy academic would be remiss not to at least test drive its potential.
FAQs: Elicit.org
Is Elicit.org completely free or are there limits?
The tool is free but monthly caps on key features apply like 50 searches, 200 extractions and 10 map creations. Paid plans removing limits aren’t available yet.
What types of research can Elicit assist with?
Any scientific or technical disciplines where analysis of published literature is important – including medicine, bioengineering and chemistry.
Can I upload custom papers beyond Semantic Scholar’s database?
Unfortunately uploading custom PDFs isn’t yet supported. Only semantic search results are currently analyzed.
How accurate is Elicit in comprehending papers?
Fairly accurate but AI still has limitations. Important claims should be manually verified before basing months of research on them alone.
Does Elicit replace or augment manual literature reviews?
It augments and accelerates the process but thoughtful human analysis is still crucial for validating machine outputs.