AI for literature reviews, with every claim cited
Put your papers in one place and ask questions across all of them. Silas compares findings, extracts data into tables, and cites the paper and page behind every statement.
A literature review workflow
Build your library
Upload the papers for your review into a folder, or sync them from Google Drive or Microsoft 365. Scanned PDFs and figures are read too.
Ask across every paper
“Which studies used a randomized design?” “What sample sizes were reported?” Silas searches the whole folder and cites each paper and page.
Compare and extract
Run the Document Compare and Data Extraction workflows to line papers up side by side or pull methods, samples, and results into a table you can export as CSV.
Draft the synthesis
Generate a cited research report or detailed notes from the folder, then refine it in the chat. Every claim keeps its reference.
Why cited answers matter for research
General chatbots are known for confident references to papers that do not exist. In a literature review that is disqualifying. Silas only answers from documents in your library and attaches a citation you can click to read the original passage, so checking a claim takes seconds.
It also scales past what fits in a single chat window. Ask one question across hundreds of papers and Silas retrieves the relevant passages from each. Read more about how cited answers work or see why researchers use Silas as a NotebookLM alternative.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI help with a literature review?
Yes, for the reading and organizing. Silas finds relevant passages across all your papers, compares methods and findings, and extracts data into tables, citing the paper and page each time. The judgement about what the literature means is still yours.
Will it make up citations?
Silas answers from the papers in your library and cites the passage each statement came from, so every reference points to a document you uploaded. If the answer is not in your papers, it says so.
How many papers can I include?
The Student plan holds 250 documents, Pro holds 5,000, and Research holds 25,000. Search stays precise as the library grows because Silas only pulls the passages relevant to each question.
Can I export the results?
Workflow results export as PDF, Markdown, or CSV, so extracted tables can go straight into a spreadsheet or your reference notes.
Does it search the web for new papers too?
Silas can search the web alongside your library when you ask it to, but literature review work is strongest on the papers you have chosen and uploaded, where every claim can be cited to a page.