Assistant by scite

Published by Dusan Belic on July 10, 2023

Assistant by scite

AI tool that helps find research-backed evidence, analyses, and expert opinions

Assistant by scite is made to (obviously) assist users with processing and understanding vast amounts of scientific literature. It operates by providing reliable answers from the full texts of millions of research articles across various topics.

The tool allows users to ask simple questions, ranging from highly technical inquiries, such as how the structure of a protein affects its function, to more general knowledge questions, like estimating the rat population in NYC. As such, Assistant by scite is particularly useful for individuals looking to deepen their comprehension of specific subject areas, explore the cognitive and neural mechanisms behind human behavior, or tackle any inquiry where scientific research can offer insights.

Furthermore, it is a versatile tool for various writing and research tasks. Whether users are working on blog posts, essays, grant proposals, or seeking to challenge or confirm a scientific proposition – Assistant by scite aids in unblocking writers by providing answers, summarizing research findings, and even identifying controversies within fields such as nephrology.

In addition, the tool is capable of extracting information to support research tasks, opposing or corroborating evidence, and summarizing complex research articles. This, in turn, makes Assistant by scite useful for both academic and commercial users seeking reliable research insights.

Assistant by scite Homepage

Categories Research & Data Analysis

Video Overview ▶️

What are the key features? ⭐

Research assistance: Uses large language models (LLMs) to answer research questions, providing insightful and detailed responses.
Search Filters: Allows users to specify year ranges, topics, publication types, and journals when searching for papers, ensuring relevant and precise results.
Response behavior: Users can decide whether references are needed and control the length and detail of the assistant's responses.
Source selection: The tool allows users to limit searches to papers from specific collections or journals that they are interested in.
Insight & transparency: Provides insight into its thought process, helping users understand how answers are derived.

Who is it for? 🤔

Scite Assistant is designed for researchers, academics, students, and professionals in scientific and scholarly fields who require in-depth, accurate, and source-backed information. Its customization features and control over search parameters make it valuable for those engaged in extensive research and writing projects, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of their work.

Examples of what you can use it for 💭

Academic researchers get assistance in finding relevant papers and understanding complex topics
Get help in conducting literature reviews by filtering search results and offering insights into key studies
Students get an aid in gathering accurate information and references for essays, projects, and theses
Scientists get support in obtaining precise data and references for their publications
Get help with fact-checking with Scite Assistant's reference-backed responses.

Pros & Cons ⚖️

Understand complex topics with the help of AI
Customizable search filters make it easy to find the information you need
Fact-checking was never this easy

You may need some time to master this tool

FAQs 💬

What is Scite Assistant?

Scite Assistant is an AI-powered research tool that answers questions by pulling from a massive database of peer-reviewed papers, always citing real sources to avoid hallucinations. It helps users like students and academics explore topics quickly with evidence-backed responses.

How does Scite Assistant ensure accurate citations?

It searches over 1.2 billion citation statements from full-text articles, classifying them as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning the original work using deep learning models. This way, you get verifiable context rather than made-up references.

Who is Scite Assistant designed for?

It's built for researchers, students, scientists, and even journalists who need reliable academic insights. Think of it as a smart sidekick for literature reviews or brainstorming without the fluff.

Can Scite Assistant help with literature reviews?

Yes, it excels at summarizing debates in a field, building reference lists, and highlighting key papers with their citation impacts. Users often cut review time in half by spotting supporting or contrasting evidence right away.

What makes Scite Assistant different from ChatGPT?

While ChatGPT might guess or invent sources, Scite grounds every answer in licensed scholarly content, showing exact citation contexts. It's like ChatGPT but with academic guardrails to keep things trustworthy.

Does Scite Assistant integrate with other tools?

Absolutely, it works via a free browser extension for quick queries on any webpage, plus plugins for Zotero and integrations with platforms like Google Scholar or PubMed. You can highlight text anywhere and ask for insights.

How customizable is Scite Assistant for my needs?

You can tweak settings like response length (short, medium, long), filter by year or topic, and decide how many references to include. It's flexible for broad explorations or deep dives into specific DOIs.

Can beginners use Scite Assistant without prior experience?

Sure, its chat interface feels natural, like talking to a knowledgeable colleague. Start with simple questions, and it guides you with examples, though a quick tutorial helps for advanced filters.

What types of questions works best with Scite Assistant?

It shines on research-oriented queries, like "What measures assess depression?" or "How has climate change impacted agriculture?" For non-academic stuff, it might not be as versatile.

Is Scite Assistant updated with the latest research?

Yes, it draws from a growing index of over 200 million papers, including recent ones, with ongoing additions from 30+ publisher partners. Responses stay current, but always cross-check for breaking news.