How is PICO Portal Individual different from Elicit?
ComparisonPICO Portal Individual keeps a named include or exclude, a time, a rationale, and the source passage on one record. Elicit does not run that screening record.
What does Elicit do that PICO Portal Individual does not?
Elicit is stronger when you want a table of extracted findings across many papers, with a paid extraction workflow.
Elicit finds papers and extracts columns from them into a report. Open Elicit.
How do they compare on search, answer, and screen?
| PICO Portal Individual | Elicit | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | 14-day free trial. No department contract. | Free tier, plus a paid plan. |
| Search | 470 million articles from OpenAlex, ORCID and PubMed. | Paper search plus column extraction. |
| Answer | Plain language. Each claim links to a source you can open. | A report built from extracted cells. |
| Screen | Named reviewer, time, rationale, and the source passage. | Not a decision record. |
Who should use which?
PICO Portal Individual — A student or solo researcher who needs a cited answer and a screening record they can defend.
Elicit — A researcher who wants extracted columns and a report, and will pay for the extraction pass.
Can I use PICO Portal Individual and Elicit in the same review?
Yes. Keep Elicit for Paper search plus column extraction. Put the include or exclude in PICO Portal Individual. The record shows the named reviewer, the time, the rationale, and the source passage.
Do I name Elicit in the methods?
Yes, if you searched there. Also name PICO Portal Individual if the decision sits there. A reader must be able to open the same record.
Can a student start without a university license?
Yes. PICO Portal Individual starts with a 14-day free trial and does not need a department contract. Elicit: Free tier, plus a paid plan.
What do I lose if I leave Elicit?
Elicit is stronger when you want a table of extracted findings across many papers, with a paid extraction workflow.
Does either tool write the review?
No. Elicit returns A report built from extracted cells. PICO Portal Individual returns a cited answer. You write the sentence.
Where is the decision record?
On the PICO Portal Individual record: named reviewer, timestamp, rationale, source passage. Elicit: Not a decision record.
Can I upload a file from Elicit?
Yes, if it is a citation file. You then see that file in the same queue as the OpenAlex results.
Which tool do I open first?
Open Elicit if you already have a list. Open PICO Portal Individual if you have a question and no file.
Is the answer a substitute for the paper?
No. Open the citation. The passage is on the record so a second person can check the claim.
What can a supervisor check?
The question, the search, each include or exclude, and the passage. You see the queue, the conflicts, and the agreement while the stage is still open.