Identifying Scholarly, Professional, and Popular
While there are similarities between these types of sources, there are distinct characteristics for differentiating these three types.
See below chart and database which will aid you in distinguishing between these three types of sources. When in doubt if a source meets the requirements for an assignment, ask your professor!
Scholarly, Trade, and Popular Chart
UlrichsWeb
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Ulrichsweb This link opens in a new window
Ulrichsweb.com is an authoritative source of bibliographic and publisher information on more than 300,000 periodicals of all types from around the world.
After opening the UlrichsWeb database, search for your publication, and then under "serial type," you will see if it is a journal, monograph, magazine, newsletter, proceeding, report, etc.
UlrichsWeb will also detail if a journal is "peer-reviewed," this is a very helpful characteristic if the database you are searching does not detail if a journal is peer-reviewed.