Blackwell Publishing was formed by the 2001 merger of two Oxford-based Academic publishing companies, Blackwell Science (founded 1939) and Blackwell Publishers (founded 1922), which had their origins in the nineteenth century Blackwell´s bookshop and publishing business. The merger created the world’s leading learned society publisher, partnered with 665 academic and professional societies. Blackwell published over 800 journals and 650 text and reference books in 2006, across a wide range of academic, medical, and professional subjects, and had 990 staff members with offices in the US, UK, Australia, China, Denmark, Germany, Singapore and Japan.

The company identified its mission as an expert publisher as to create long-term partnerships with its clients that enhanced learning, disseminated research, and improved the quality of professional practice. Its online full-text service was launched by Blackwell Science in 1999.

On 17 November 2006, John Wiley and Sons announced it had “entered into a definitive agreement to acquire” Blackwell Publishing. The acquisition was completed in February 2007. Blackwell Publishing was merged into Wiley’s Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to create Wiley-Blackwell. From 30 June 2008, the journals previously on Blackwell Synergy are delivered through Wiley InterScience (later Wiley Online Library).