What should I look out for with AI in research & science?

Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or wrongly attributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer-review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive, so do not enter them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data from research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running models locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, document your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible.

Home / Safety / Elicit for research & science

Elicit Research, PBC (Covina, United States)

How safe is Elicit for research & science?

GDPR profile for research & scienceUnknown

The maker of Elicit publishes little about data protection. Ask before you put confidential research & science data into it.

Where does Elicit stand in research & science?

Shared place 20 of 30 options for research & science (professional tools and general assistants) on GDPR profile. 4 options, like Elicit, have an unknown profile. Each tile is an option we track for this field; click for the check.

Strong5

Good6

Limited8

Unknown4

Caution7

Published safeguards

None of these three found in what the provider publishes; you can read what is there below. Is this your tool? Add the details

model providers are not named; Elicit states it does not train on user data and says its model providers operate under a zero-retention arrangement, plus a SOC 2 Type II report. Servers in the US, no EU hosting promised.

How to use Elicit safely

Use the business variant and sign a data processing agreement (DPA).
Do not enter unnecessary personal data into prompts; anonymise where possible.
Ask the provider explicitly where data is stored and processed.
Keep a professional in the loop: never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as invented or misattributed citations are the most common error.

Stronger or equally strong in research & science

CradleCradle (Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Zürich, Switzerland)

ASReview LABUniversiteit Utrecht (the Netherlands)

KeeniousKeenious (Norway)

ScholarcyEverway Opco Limited / Scholarcy (Antrim, United Kingdom)

SciSpacePubGenius Inc. (Milpitas, United States)

Questions

How safe is Elicit for research & science?: The maker of Elicit publishes little about data protection. Check this before you put confidential research & academia data into it. The provider publishes little on this, ask about it before business use.
Does Elicit train on my data?: model providers are not named; Elicit states it does not train on user data and says its model providers operate under a zero-retention arrangement, plus a SOC 2 Type II report. Servers in the US, no EU hosting promised.
What should I look out for with AI in research & science?: Never use AI as a source: every reference must be traceable to the original article, as fabricated or wrongly attributed citations are the most common error. Unpublished data, research proposals and peer-review manuscripts are confidential or commercially sensitive, so do not enter them into a consumer account without a data processing agreement, and check whether the provider stores your input or uses it for training (publishers usually prohibit this explicitly for peer review). If you work with personal data from research participants, the GDPR and your own ethics review apply: running models locally or using an EU-hosted tool with data minimisation is then the safe route. Finally, document your search strategy and your AI use: journals and funders increasingly ask for this, and a review must remain reproducible.

Source documents

elicit.com elicit.com

Everything about Elicit Best AI for research & science

Summarised by the editorial team from provider documentation · not legal advice

Last checked: 27 October 2026 · How we check

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