Our LibGuide for Finding Reliable Sources provides an excellent overview for learning what is a reliable source, who decides a source is reliable, criteria for evaluating reliability, and fact-checking sites.
1. Searching that exact concept
Ex: "#metoo" OR "me too movement"
The newer the concept, the fewer sources there are likely to be!
2. Generalizations of that concept
Ex: consent
Ex: sexual assault
3. Generalizations AND region/time
Ex. consent AND twentieth-century
Ex. women's rights activism AND Georgia
Ex. social media activism AND gender
4. Topic and style of analysis
Ex. consent AND feminism
Ex. consent AND interview study
1. Criticism on the exact piece of literature
Ex: "Turtles all the way Down"
If it is new, there may not be any criticism!
2. Criticism on the author's other work or general work
Ex: John Green
This works better for people who have written many works and for many years.
3. Scholarship on the genre/movement and how it works with a topic
Ex. YA literature AND race, YA literature AND trauma, Graphic novels AND boyhood, Southern gothic AND ghosts
4. Scholarship on a literary theme (interdisciplinary or in lit)
Ex. trauma, disability, race, sexuality, queer, confession, family, gothic, spirits, humor, place, home
5. Scholarship on a style of analysis
Ex. Feminism AND YA