The CRAAP test, which stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose, is a list of criteria/questions that you should keep in mind as you evaluate a book, article or website. 

Use this handout (from California State University - Chico) to help you determine if a source provides good information... or not.

Popular magazines vs. trade magazines
vs. scholarly journals

by Naomi Lederer (originally found https://lib.colostate.edu/howto/poplr.html)

The following is a list of General Criteria that can be used to distinguish between popular magazines, trade magazines, and scholarly journals. Some journals do not meet all the criteria in one category. For example, Scientific American, which has glossy pages and color pictures, contains both scholarly articles as well as those geared to a more general audience. Accountability and content of the specific article are the key criteria used to determine if an article is scholarly

A Note about Peer Review

"Peer review" refers to the policy of having experts in the field examine journal articles before acceptance for publication. Peer review insures that the research described in a journal's articles is sound and of high quality. Sometimes the term "refereed" is used instead of peer review. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory, located behind the Information Desk, has a list of refereed journals. However, not all scholarly journals are on this list. For unlisted journals, examine the editorial policy, instructions to authors, and/or the editorial board list of members to determine if the editorial boards and/or consultants are experts in the field.

No matter what type of journal an article comes from, be sure to evaluate it.