Just started using Elicit to speed up literature reviews. My main goal is finding RCTs, but I keep hitting a wall with pre-prints. The default search seems to filter them out, which makes sense for final answers, but I don't want to miss ongoing or recently completed studies.
Has anyone figured out a reliable workflow? I tried adding "preprint" as a keyword, but that pulls in too much non-RCT material. Is there a filter or search syntax that combines "study type: randomized controlled trial" with including pre-print servers? Or is the best method to run two separate searches and merge them manually?
Elicit's filters are too blunt for that. You're right about the keyword problem.
I run the RCT search first, capture those results. Then I do a separate search on preprint servers I actually track, like medRxiv, using very specific RCT-focused terms in their advanced search. Merge manually. It's an extra ten minutes but you don't get the noise.
Two searches is the only reliable method right now.