If you have a particular serial publication in mind, you can use the UMGC Library's Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory database to find its classification. (The word "serials" in the database's title refers to something published in installments. Journals, magazines, and newspapers are serials because each new installment is published under the same title and each installment has volume and/or issue numbers that indicate where each individual installment falls in the history of the publication.)
To use Ulrichsweb, enter the title of a journal, newspaper, or magazine into the search box, putting the title between quotation marks so that it will be searched for as a phrase, as shown in the image below. (Keep in mind that Ulrichsweb contains information at the serial level and not at the article level, so you must enter a journal, newspaper, or magazine title into the search box rather than an article title.)
On the search results page, click on the publication's title to open up its record. The record will indicate whether that publication is considered to be academic/scholarly and/or refereed/peer reviewed, as shown in the image below.
Note, incidentally, that there is a distinction between "scholarly" and "peer-reviewed"; see Does "scholarly" mean the same thing as "peer-reviewed"? for more information.
You can also find journal information by using Google, Bing, etc. to find a journal's website. Once you've done that, look for pages that give information about the journal and/or that provide instructions for potential authors, since this may help you determine whether the journal uses the peer-review process.
Keep in mind that not all content that appears in a peer-reviewed publication is necessarily peer-reviewed. Peer-reviewed journals may contain book reviews, letters to the editor, and other articles that have not undergone peer review.
If you have any questions about this information, please use the UMGC Library's Ask a Librarian service to receive assistance.