Since there are several types of periodicals, it can be difficult to distinguish between them - especially if you aren't holding an issue of the journal, magazine, or newspaper in your hand. Luckily, there's a resource available through OU Libraries that can help you make these distinctions!
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory lets users input the title of any journal or periodical, current or historical, and determine its type. It also provides other important information, such as ISBN/ISSN, publisher details, its publication frequency, and website/contact information. Try Ulrich's out for yourself.
Ulrich's is especially useful when you need to confirm a resource is scholarly - you'll often have instructors ask you to verify this. In Ulrich's, a journal is indicated as scholarly in two ways. First, it will indicate it is refereed with an image of a black and white striped referee jersey, and second, it will note that the content type is academic/scholarly.
For those resources that aren't scholarly journals, the content type will indicate if it is a trade, consumer, or newspaper periodical.
