Elicit
What it does: Answers research questions, summarises papers, and builds evidence tables from the Semantic Scholar corpus.
Best for: Generating quick summaries of research findings or comparing study methods.
Standout feature: Table builder that extracts key variables (e.g., sample size, outcome measures) from listed papers.
Freemium model: Free with limits on queries and extracted results; paid unlocks larger tables and advanced features.
Website: elicit.com
Consensus
What it does: Answers yes/no style research questions using summaries generated from academic literature.
Best for: Quick answers to questions like “Does X affect Y?” based on published research.
Standout feature: Shows how many papers support, refute, or are neutral on a given question.
Freemium model: Free for a limited number of queries; premium unlocks more questions, deeper summaries, and citations.
Website: consensus.app
Scite Assistant
What it does: Uses AI to summarise research claims, show how papers cite each other (supporting, contrasting, or mentioning), and answer questions.
Best for: Understanding citation context and summarising claims across multiple papers.
Standout feature: Smart citation classifications (support, contrast, mention) plus a chat-based assistant.
Freemium model: Free for a limited number of queries and citation reports; premium unlocks more usage and Assistant access.
Website: scite.ai
Tip: Not sure how these tools compare to other academic search tools like LibrarySearch or Web of Science? Visit our Search and Discovery Tools page to learn how different search tools work — and when to use each one.