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In the books it's mentioned that Pettigrew probably wasn't intelligent enough to research (and perform) the animagi... spells... on his own, and that James and Sirius helped him. However, it's also mentioned that they learned how to become animagi whilst still at Hogwarts.
My questions are: 1) How did they research this while still at Hogwarts? 2) What needs to be done/ what spells performed to become and animagus?
A section of the Animagus Wiki article (which I think to answer this question is most useful) cites both The Tales of Beedle The Bard and this site's transcript of facts from the 2014 UK editions of the Harry Potter books. It says:
"It takes skill, practice, and patience for wizards and witches to become Animagi. The process of becoming an Animagus is long and arduous, and has the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong. Many witches and wizards simply feel that their time might better be employed in other ways, as the skill is of limited practical use unless one has a great need of disguise or concealment. Part of the process by which one becomes an Animagus is holding the leaf of a mandrake in their mouth for an entire month. Once the initial training is over, an Animagus can change at will, with or without a wand."
Additionally, moving into my own thoughts and deductions: We know that Sirius, James and Wormtail worked together on the process of becoming Animagi. We know that it was difficult and did take time, but they were skilled at magic and inspired by Lupin's condition to be animal companions to him. According to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, they learned of Lupin's condition in their second year but James at least didn't perfect his skills as an Animagi until his fifth year. So it took them three entire years:
‘Yes, indeed’, said Lupin. ‘It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong – one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will. (PoA, Chapter 18 - many thanks to @Chirlu).
Becoming an Animagi can normally be learned at school, though not by every student. McGonagall, for example, had accomplished it by her graduation from Hogwarts, but she was a great student with an exceptional teacher - Dumbledore. (See her Pottermore article). It would obviously be much more difficult for these boys to manage it in secret, but I think the point is that both Sirius Black and James Potter were quite exceptional. As for research, the Hogwarts library is pretty extensive (think of the things the trio learned there on their own) and they had the Shrieking Shack to practice in.
Can I direct you to this answer also(perhaps for the second question you ask): What does it take to become a registered Animagus?
For the first part: We know that you start learning about Animagi in 3rd year Transfiguration, and it was probably then that James and Sirius got the idea to become Animagi to accompany Lupin. In the same way that you could learn how to make a Horcrux, or Polyjuice potion from library books, there would most likely have been a book on Animagus. Having access to the cloak, they could easily have read the books they needed to (even at night or if it was in the forbidden section), and once they got the basics correct, would just require practice.
Harry chose a seat right at the back of the room, feeling as though he were sitting in a very bright spotlight; the rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at him, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. He hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was telling them about Animagi (wizards who could transform at will into animals), and wasn't even watching when she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes. - PoA
And add the fact that Victor Krum, as a 7th year, attempted a form of crude animagus by transfiguring himself partially. It was only to the point that he could partially transform, but Krum was seen as quite a powerful wizard for his age (Worthy enough to join the Triwizard Tournament, International Quidditch Player, ability to cast an unforgivable curse). If we consider Sirius and James to be more gifted than he was, then it is fully possible that they could have learnt it in 3 years successfully, as opposed to him learning a crude form in a few months. Also, he (Krum) was always spending his time in the library, so you could argue that he learnt it from a book in the Hogwarts library, and practised it in the lake when he was swimming.
It was Krum. He appeared to have transfigured himself but badly.- GoF
And the quote below to show he may have been practising a month at least beforehand in the lake.
As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake. "He's mad!" said Harry, staring at Krums dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!" - GoF
So, Sirius and James could have learnt from a book the theory like Krum did, and then just undergo lots of practice in order to get the right transformation after 3 years.
