Religious Studies Guide: Researching in Religious Studies and Theology

If you are just starting your research, you may need to develop your topic further. Ask yourself:

• What do I already know?
• What do I need to know?

As you consider these questions, take a look at a few of our reference resources for general, background information about your topic. The information you find in these resources will help you determine what you need to know, what search terms or keywords to use, an what, exactly, it is that you hope to discover through your research.

This guide contains suggested resources and how-to tutorials to guide you through your research. On this main page you'll find some databases and websites that we suggest you use for religious studies and theology research.

View the Database Searching: A Guide for Students of Religious Studies video in this section to learn some database searching strategies. Select the "Evaluating Religious Publications" tab at the top of the page to access additional instructional material that will help you select appropriate academic resources for your research projects.