Begin to consult scholars who have written about your book while you are still reading the book, as they will help you identify what is important about your text.

Start on the internet if you wish, to see if a scholar has written a recent study, as a new scholarly text will have a more open and inclusive, multi-disciplinary, approach AND have the most complete bibliography.

Bibliographies are the quickest way to discover who matters in your book’s scholarship. The important scholars are included in everybody’s bibliography (and should be included in yours).

That being said, some of the older studies are considered the foundation blocks to understanding these texts and are available at the library or in ebook form. Remember that, as most of this list consists of old and famous books, scholars have written numerous in-depth studies on each one.

The quality of your sources determines the soundness of your arguments and evidence, and tells the reader how seriously to take your essay.

Keep good track of your scholars, so as not to confuse your citations or quotes. The easiest way is simply to type their initials and the page number at the end of every entry as you are copying them.

Beware of non-academic sites. While they may help you orient yourself, if they do not include footnotes or in-text citations for the information you want, you may not use them. Wikipedia and other public sites, while quite helpful, are unacceptable in academic circles. All your entries must be peer-reviewed documents.