Nature of Business	12 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Nature of Business	Nature of Business We are a leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on our comprehensive content, expert independent analysis, and flexible delivery methods. Our aim is to embed our solutions within the entire spectrum of our customers’ organization, enabling executive level capital deployment strategies and following decision-making activities throughout their organizations to front-line employees tasked with managing their company’s complex core daily operations. We have been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, we are committed to sustainable, profitable growth and employ approximately 8,000 people in more than 31 countries around the world. We have organized our business around our customers and the geographies in which they reside: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America; EMEA, which includes Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and APAC, or Asia Pacific. Our integrated global organization makes it easier for our customers to do business with us by providing a cohesive, consistent, and effective sales-and-marketing approach in each local geography. We sell our offerings primarily through subscriptions, which tend to generate recurring revenue and cash flow for us. Our subscription agreements are typically non-cancellable and may contain provisions for minimum monthly payments. We have historically seen high renewal rates. For subscription revenue, the timing of our cash flows generally precedes the recognition of revenue and income. Our business has seasonal aspects. Our fourth quarter typically generates our highest quarterly levels of revenue and profit. Conversely, our first quarter generally has our lowest quarterly levels of revenue and profit. We also experience event-driven seasonality in our business; for instance, IHS CERAWeek, our annual energy executive gathering, is held during our second quarter. Another example is the biennial release (previously triennial release) of the Boiler Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) engineering standard, which generates revenue for us predominantly in the third quarter of every other year. The BPVC benefit most recently occurred in the third quarter of 2013.

Nature of Business

We are a leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on our comprehensive content, expert independent analysis, and flexible delivery methods. Our aim is to embed our solutions within the entire spectrum of our customers’ organization, enabling executive level capital deployment strategies and following decision-making activities throughout their organizations to front-line employees tasked with managing their company’s complex core daily operations. We have been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, we are committed to sustainable, profitable growth and employ approximately 8,000 people in more than 31 countries around the world.

We have organized our business around our customers and the geographies in which they reside: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America; EMEA, which includes Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and APAC, or Asia Pacific. Our integrated global organization makes it easier for our customers to do business with us by providing a cohesive, consistent, and effective sales-and-marketing approach in each local geography. We sell our offerings primarily through subscriptions, which tend to generate recurring revenue and cash flow for us. Our subscription agreements are typically non-cancellable and may contain provisions for minimum monthly payments. We have historically seen high renewal rates. For subscription revenue, the timing of our cash flows generally precedes the recognition of revenue and income.

Our business has seasonal aspects. Our fourth quarter typically generates our highest quarterly levels of revenue and profit. Conversely, our first quarter generally has our lowest quarterly levels of revenue and profit. We also experience event-driven seasonality in our business; for instance, IHS CERAWeek, our annual energy executive gathering, is held during our second quarter. Another example is the biennial release (previously triennial release) of the Boiler Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) engineering standard, which generates revenue for us predominantly in the third quarter of every other year. The BPVC benefit most recently occurred in the third quarter of 2013.