Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore and mythology. It makes use of such methods as the Aarne-Thompson classification system .

Scholars specializing in folkloristics are known as folklorists or mythologists. Some of the more famous scholars are:

• Antti Aarne
• Walter Anderson
• Thomas Bulfinch
• John Francis Campbell
• Thomas Crofton Croker
• Jeremiah Curtin
• Brothers Grimm
• Edith Hamilton
• Thomas Keightley
• Julius Krohn
• Kaarle Krohn
• Alan Lomax
• Carl von Sydow
• Stith Thompson
• Lady Wilde

Literature on the subject of folkloristics

• Aarne, Antti (1961). "The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography." ed. S. Thompson, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki
• v. Brednich, Rolf W. et al (2000)., "Enzyklopädie des Märchens: Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung", Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York
• Thompson, Stith (1946). "The Folktale." The Dryden Press, New York