What is Elicit and how to use it to research faster

Those who, for studies or work, spend hours delving into articles and PDFs, now have a valuable resource at their disposal: elicitThis tool works like an AI research assistant It accelerates key tasks of a systematic review without sacrificing rigor. Instead of searching blindly, it allows you to ask questions in natural language and receive relevant results, summaries, and data ready for analysis.

Think of him as a smart colleague who understands what you need and returns useful literature to you. extracts key information and synthesizes findings clearlyFurthermore, it integrates with tools like Zotero and allows you to export results in CSV format to continue working on your review or report in an organized way.

What is Elicit and what does it solve?

Elicit is an AI assistant geared towards academic research capable of automate search, data extraction, and synthesisIt is optimized to answer scientific questions written in natural language, which makes life much easier for those who are not proficient in controlled vocabularies or specialized thesauri.

Its semantic approach identifies the intent of the query and prioritizes articles that fit with the underlying idea. even though the words don't exactly matchThis opens the door to diverse approaches and interesting connections between areas related to your initial question.

How to find relevant literature with Elicit

The first step is to establish the focus. It raises a clear and direct research question in the search bar. For example, instead of listing random terms, formulate the question you really want to answer.

The tool detects keywords related to your query and suggests related concepts; These implicit keywords enrich the search without having to enter synonyms one by one.

After processing your query, you will see a list of documents prioritized by relevance. It's like having a specialized librarian who puts the most useful things at the top. so you can sift quickly.

To speed up the screening process, Elicit generates brief summaries of each result tailored to your question. This preview allows you to decide quickly. whether an article deserves to be read in full or should be discarded.

As you find valuable pieces, add the references to your manager or roadmap. Elicit makes it easy to save and export results. to Zotero or to a CSV file to continue working on the methodical review.

Semantic search with natural language

One of its biggest advantages is that you can write complete questions, and the semantic engine interprets the intention to return relevant work even if the vocabulary doesn't match exactly.

This approach is especially useful in clinical and public health settings, where terminology varies depending on the author. For example, when investigating the impact of prolonged isolation on older adults, Studies on chronic loneliness or emotional effects may appear that broaden the perspective of your review.

To get the most out of it: formulate the question in natural language, Review the suggested articles, ordered by relevance., and filter by year, study type or population if you need to narrow it down.

Information extraction and comparison in tables

Elicit allows you to select multiple studies and extract structured data in columns, generating table-format comparisons in one clickIt is very useful for seeing definitions, methods, sample sizes, or populations at a glance.

Typical flow: perform the search, mark the articles that interest you and activate the columns you want in the table. The tool compiles the relevant information from each study. so you can compare approaches or results without reopening PDFs one by one.

Imagine you want to analyze how different authors relate stress and exercise: You will be able to extract definitions, measurements used, and characteristics of the sample. to compare critically before a deep reading.

Once you have the table, it is possible to export it for further analysis. The CSV format makes it easy to classify, clean, and visualize data. in your favorite editor or incorporate them into your review report.

Automatic summary generation

When you open a specific record, Elicit provides a concise summary outlining the study's objective, methodological approach, and main findings. The language is technical but accessible, perfect for rapid screening or preliminary consultation.

This saves time when handling large volumes of literature. You quickly identify the jobs that truly contribute. to your question, and you postpone reading the rest in full.

Imagine a teacher reviewing a long article on the causes of heart disease: with the summary by Elicit You can decide in minutes whether to include it in a guide. without reading the twenty pages of the original.

To take advantage of it: perform the search, open the detailed view of a study, and read the summary generated by the AI. Save it if you need it for your evidence matrix or to justify why you include or exclude that work.

Intelligent filtering by custom criteria

When the list of results is extensive, Elicit allows apply filters directly to the visible columns from the table: by sample size, design, population, numerical intervals, or included/excluded terms.

You can combine conditions with operators such as greater than, include or exclude terms, refining the set of items that truly fit with your review framework or clinical practice.

A typical use in clinical research: to narrow down by age groups or by type of study to improve the external validity of your selection. This way you concentrate your reading on literature with the rigor and focus you need.

The flow is simple: launch your search in natural language, open the table, and filter in the column that interests you until you are left with the sample of target items.

Summarize Concepts: clarify complex terms

If you come across a recurring methodological, statistical, or clinical concept, The Summarize Concepts function offers a brief and well-structured explanation based on academic literature.

The location is easy: on the homepage, below the text bar, Open the More tools section and click Summarize ConceptsType in the term and you'll get a didactic summary to get you up to date.

For example, regarding the concept of external validity that appears time and again, You can get immediate clarification and apply it to your comparisons. without wasting time tracking down definitions in multiple sources.

This shortcut is useful for preparing classes, presentations, or reports. and also to safely interpret technical passages of articles with specialized jargon.

Other advanced tasks: datasets, long summaries, and questions with quotes

Elicit also offers a specific task for locating datasets. Simply go to the datasets option, Describe the type of data you are looking for and let AI guide you. towards relevant sources.

If you have long texts (a report or an academic document), you can paste them into the summarizing task. and the tool will produce a short and clear version that retains the essentials for quick reading.

Additionally, there is a question-and-answer task that returns answers with references. When writing your question, Elicit offers you an answer accompanied by quotes so you can see where the information comes from.

This combination of functions reduces manual labor, accelerates understanding and improves traceability of statements in your documents.

Literature source: Semantic Scholar and contextual synthesis

Among its mechanisms, Elicit uses the Semantic Scholar search engine to retrieve academic references. Based on the summary of each article, generate a personalized synthesis related to your question, which helps you to build the theoretical framework.

This contextualization is not a simple cut and paste: it prioritizes what answers your question, to make the initial screening faster and more useful from the first batch of results.

How to use Elicit for a literature review

1. Define the question and scope of the review.
2. Launch the search in natural language.
3. Use the summaries for screening.
4. Select articles and extract key columns in table.
5. Apply filters to keep the most relevant studies.

Then, export to Zotero and/or CSV to maintain traceability. With the table in hand, he detects patterns, methodological differences, and gaps.When an article seems crucial, skip to the full reading.

If you encounter unfamiliar terms, refer to Summarize Concepts; If you need additional context or to contrast a claim, use questions and answers with quotes. to quickly locate sources that support each point.

For projects that require specific data, explore the dataset task. And when you need to condense a long document, use the summary function. to save time without losing sight of what's important.

Does Elicit replace traditional methods?

The tool does not replace critical judgment, thorough reading, or quality assessment of studies; It functions as support to automate repetitive steps and give you a better basis from which to decide.

Think of Elicit as a methodological accelerator: It helps you find, organize, and synthesizewhile you assess biases, validity, and applicability and decide how choose the best AI for your needs.

How much does Elicit cost?

There are plans with different capacities and usage limits. Availability and conditions may vary over timeTherefore, the wisest course of action is to consult the updated official information and review What data do AI assistants collect? before planning a long project.

With all of the above, Elicit stands out as a powerful ally: A semantic search engine that understands your questions, a summarizer that saves you unnecessary reading, and an extractor that creates comparisons in seconds.Used judiciously, it greatly reduces the friction of a review and leaves you more time for what matters: truly analyzing the studies and making informed decisions.