Litmaps
AI-powered literature review tool that creates interactive visual maps of scientific literature, showing connections between papers through citations, co-citations, and topical relationships. Helps individual researchers, teams, and institutions navigate complex research landscapes, discover related work, and track new publications in their field. Offers individual ($10/mo), Team, and Enterprise plans — the Enterprise tier supports institution-wide licensing with custom pricing and configurable seat counts for universities, research labs, and corporate R&D groups.
Litmaps is an AI-powered research discovery tool that creates interactive visual maps of scientific literature, revealing connections between papers through citations, co-citations, co-authorship, and semantic similarity to help users navigate complex research landscapes efficiently.[1][2][3] Its core value lies in accelerating literature reviews by transforming static searches into dynamic, customizable visualizations that highlight chronological progression, citation impact, and knowledge gaps, starting from a single paper, keyword, DOI, or author.[1][5][6]
Key features include seed maps for building personalized literature graphs, automatic weekly monitoring for new publications, tagging and color-coding for organization, advanced filters, Zotero integration, and algorithm options like citation networks or AI-driven semantic search.[3][5][7] Designed for researchers, academics, and students conducting literature reviews, evidence syntheses, or topic explorations, it excels in early-stage discovery, gap identification, and staying current without replacing traditional database searches.[2][8][9]
What sets Litmaps apart is its intuitive chronological-by-citation layout, blank map customization for hands-on knowledge graphs, and focus on interconnected narratives over mere lists, outperforming tools like ResearchRabbit in direct citation visualization and accessibility for diverse users including those with dyslexia.[1][5][8]
Sources
- [1] http://oreateai.com/blog/litmaps-ai-charting-the-unseen-connections-in-your-research/b4c4e93d78f2b83f6b2c84126acd02cc
- [2] https://deakin.libguides.com/c.php?g=977267&p=7141444
- [3] https://libguides.eduhk.hk/blogs/ai-discovery-zone-eduhk-librarys-research-support/unlock-the-power-of-research-mapping
- [5] https://effortlessacademic.com/litmaps-vs-researchrabbit-vs-connected-papers-the-best-literature-review-tool-in-2025/
- [6] https://www.litmaps.com/learn/how-to-create-a-literature-map
- [7] https://www.litmaps.com/features
- [8] https://www.litmaps.com
- [9] https://www.litmaps.com/about/for-researchers
Litmaps states it may use de-identified metadata to create aggregate reports and improve services, but does not explicit
No training opt-out mechanism was identified in the legal documents.
Moderate risk. Suitable for internal data but avoid confidential information.
Litmaps states it may use de-identified metadata to create aggregate reports and improve services, but does not explicitly state whether user content trains AI models. The language is vague about the scope of 'service improvement' and whether this includes model training.
“[ToS] 'Litmaps may use User data in order to provide the Litmaps Service to You, and may use de-identified (as such term is understood under the Data Protection Legislation) metadata to create aggregate (non-personally identifiable) reports which allow Litmaps to enhance its services.'”
The ToS grants Litmaps ownership of 'New Intellectual Property' created under the Agreement, but user data and personal workspace content appear to remain user-owned. However, the scope of what constitutes 'New Intellectual Property' is ambiguous and could encompass derivative works or insights generated from user data.
“[ToS] 'Exclusive ownership and title to all Intellectual Property Rights created under or in connection with this Agreement shall be vested in Litmaps as and when they are created or arise.' vs. 'You own and retain all rights, title and interest in and to all Your Intellectual Property.'”
Litmaps shares data with infrastructure providers (Microsoft Azure) and may disclose to 'business that supports our services' and 'other third parties (for anonymized statistical information).' While some controls exist, the definition of 'supporting businesses' is vague and sub-processor details are limited.
“[Privacy] 'We may disclose your Personal Information to: any business that supports our services and products, including any person that hosts or maintains any underlying IT system or data center that we use to provide the website or other services and products; other third parties (for anonymized statistical information).'”
Litmaps states it retains data 'for as long as reasonably necessary' but allows longer retention for complaints or litigation prospects. Anonymized data may be retained indefinitely. The policy lacks specific retention periods and clear deletion timelines.
“[Privacy] 'We will only retain your Personal Information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for... In some circumstances we will anonymize your Personal Information for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.'”
User data and personal workspace content are stated as user-owned, but Litmaps claims ownership of 'New Intellectual Property' created 'under or in connection with' the Agreement. This creates ambiguity about ownership of outputs, insights, or derivative works generated from user data.
“[ToS] 'You own and retain all rights, title and interest in and to all Your Intellectual Property... Exclusive ownership and title to all Intellectual Property Rights created under or in connection with this Agreement shall be vested in Litmaps.'”
Litmaps references compliance with multiple data protection laws (GDPR, NZ Privacy Act, CCPA, etc.) and mentions Microsoft Azure infrastructure, but provides no published SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or other formal security certifications. No dedicated trust or security page is referenced.
“[ToS] 'The Parties shall at all times comply with all applicable laws relating to the handling, storage, processing and use of data, including the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 General Data Protection Regulation, the UK Data Protection Act 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act 2018, the Australia Privacy Act 1988...' [Privacy] 'Data and processing to enable the service worldwide is stored in data centers run by Microsoft Azure, Boydton, VA, USA.'”
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