XML 50 R38.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1

Acquisitions (Details) $ in Thousands, Article in Millions		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) Employee Journal Article WebSite SocietyandPublisher	Oct. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired				$ 6,097	$ 135,753
Revenue		$ 451,731	$ 425,588	863,175	829,873
Goodwill		999,546	974,068	999,546	974,068		$ 982,101	$ 951,663
Operating income (loss)		82,771	$ 47,644	97,271	$ 91,571
Atypon Systems Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired	$ 121,000
Number of employees | Employee	260
Revenue		8,000		$ 16,300
Goodwill	$ 70,000
Working capital	3,000
Estimated useful life of intangible assets acquired				12 years
Operating income (loss)		$ (600)		$ (1,100)
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenue						$ 31,000
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Customer Relationships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Intangible assets	14,000
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Software [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Intangible assets	28,000
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Trademarks [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Intangible assets	$ 6,000
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Literatum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of journals hosted | Journal	9,000
Number of journal articles hosted | Article	13
Atypon Systems Inc [Member] | Literatum [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of publication web sites hosted | WebSite	1,800
Number of societies and publishers hosted | SocietyandPublisher	1,500

X

- Definition

The amount of working capital recognized as of the acquisition date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedWorkingCapital
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Refers to the number of employees of the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_NumberOfEmployees
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Refers to the number of journal articles hosts by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_NumberOfJournalArticlesHosted
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Refers to the number of journals hosted by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_NumberOfJournalsHosted
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Refers to the number of publication web sites hosted by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_NumberOfPublicationWebSitesHosted
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Refers to the number of societies and publishers hosted by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	jwa_NumberOfSocietiesAndPublishersHosted
Namespace Prefix:	jwa_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Weighted average amortization period of finite-lived intangible assets acquired either individually or as part of a group of assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16265-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AcquiredFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsWeightedAverageUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of intangible assets, excluding goodwill, acquired at the acquisition date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84161108&loc=d3e4845-128472

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77989000&loc=SL49117168-202975

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of a business, net of the cash acquired from the purchase.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3213-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesNetOfCashAcquired
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Revenues
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=jwa_AtyponSystemsIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_CustomerRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_ComputerSoftwareIntangibleAssetMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_TrademarksMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProductOrServiceAxis=jwa_LiteratumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: