Hindawi Limited

Hindawi Limited
Name	Hindawi Limited
Type	Private
Industry	Publishing
Founded	1997
Founder	Ahmed Hindawi
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Area served	Global
Products	Academic journals, books, conference proceedings
Owner	Wiley (imprint)

Hindawi Limited is a commercial academic publisher founded in 1997, known for its portfolio of open access journals spanning the sciences, medicine, engineering, and the humanities. The company grew from a small specialist imprint into a global publisher with offices and editorial operations influenced by developments in scholarly communication, digital publishing, and research policy. Hindawi's trajectory intersects with major organizations and debates in scholarly publishing, including mergers, open access mandates, and investigations into peer review integrity.

History

Hindawi was established in 1997 during a period of expansion in commercial scholarly publishing that included firms such as Elsevier, Springer Science+Business Media, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, and Wiley-Blackwell. Early growth paralleled the rise of initiatives like the Open Archives Initiative and the Budapest Open Access Initiative, while its editorial model adapted to standards promoted by bodies such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. In the 2000s and 2010s Hindawi expanded its journal portfolio amid changing funder policies exemplified by mandates from the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health. The publisher became subject to industry scrutiny alongside peers like Frontiers Media and MDPI as concerns about peer review and article processing charges grew. In 2021 Hindawi was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in a deal reflecting consolidation trends that also involved transactions by Springer Nature and Taylor & Francis Group.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Hindawi operated as an independent private company with executive leadership and a board until its acquisition by John Wiley & Sons, whose portfolio includes imprints such as Wiley, Blackwell, and partners in scholarly infrastructure like CrossRef. Post-acquisition, governance and operations were aligned with corporate compliance frameworks used across multinational publishers, interacting with oversight from entities such as the Committee on Publication Ethics and regulatory regimes in jurisdictions including the United Kingdom and the United States. The ownership transition placed Hindawi within a corporate family alongside other publishing assets that engage with standards from organizations like Digital Science and metadata services such as ORCID and CrossMark.

Publishing Operations and Journals

Hindawi managed a wide array of journals, covering subject areas that intersect with titles published by Nature Publishing Group, PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), The Lancet, and discipline-specific outlets like IEEE journals and ACM publications. Its journals were indexed in databases and services comparable to Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed Central, and aggregated in platforms like Google Scholar. Editorial processes involved academic editors and reviewers drawn from universities such as Harvard University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and research institutions including the Max Planck Society and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Hindawi published across multidisciplinary and specialized journals analogous to Scientific Reports and PLOS ONE, and produced content relevant to stakeholders from the European Research Council to national academies like the Royal Society.

Open Access Policy and Business Model

Hindawi adopted an open access model based on article processing charges (APCs), a commercial approach shared with publishers including PLOS, BioMed Central, and Frontiers Media. Its policy frameworks engaged with funder mandates from Wellcome Trust, the European Commission, and Plan S as formulated by cOAlition S. The business model necessitated compliance with indexing standards from CrossRef and archiving practices compatible with repositories such as PubMed Central and institutional archives at universities like University College London and University of Cambridge. Pricing, waiver policies, and licensing choices were debated in forums attended by stakeholders from organizations like the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.

Reception, Controversies, and Retractions

Hindawi's reputation was shaped by both growth and controversies that paralleled episodes affecting Elsevier and Springer Nature. The publisher faced scrutiny over peer review vulnerabilities and instances of paper mills, situating it in broader investigations alongside publishers like MDPI and Frontiers Media. Retractions and editorial corrections were handled following guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics and were catalogued in indexes maintained by services such as Retraction Watch and databases like CrossMark. Debates over APCs, editorial standards, and acquisition impacts involved commentators from institutions such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Times Higher Education, and research libraries including the British Library and the Library of Congress.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Hindawi engaged in partnerships with infrastructure providers and scholarly organizations including CrossRef, ORCID, DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), and indexing services such as Scopus and Web of Science. Collaborative initiatives connected the publisher with academic societies and conferences—including associations like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry—and with aggregators and discovery services such as EBSCO and ProQuest. Post-acquisition, integration projects involved systems and teams aligned with John Wiley & Sons operations and broader interoperability efforts with standards set by NISO and initiatives supported by funding bodies such as the National Science Foundation.

Category:Academic publishing companies Category:Open access publishers Category:Publishing companies established in 1997