From History to Law: France Expands Its Open Interactive Textbook Collection
A new milestone has been reached in the development of open educational resources for higher education in France: the open interactive ebook Introduction to Legal Studies (Initiation aux études juridiques) is now freely available online for students, teachers and institutions.
The project was developed through a partnership between the Bibliothèque interuniversitaire Cujas, the Institut de recherche juridique de la Sorbonne, Éditions Nouveau Monde and Numérique Premium, with the support of the Couperin consortium.
This new publication is part of a broader collection of open introductory textbooks designed to support students entering university studies. The initiative began in 2020 with the publication of an open ebook dedicated to historical studies (Introduction aux études historiques), which became an important example of collaborative funding models for open educational publishing in France.
Like its predecessor, the legal studies ebook combines several key objectives:
- free and open access to educational content;
- enriched and interactive digital formats;
- long-term sustainability through collective funding;
- and the coexistence of open digital access with a commercially available print edition.
The ebook is primarily financed through a participatory funding mechanism involving French higher education and research libraries, while institutions themselves may also contribute directly beyond library acquisition budgets. Participating institutions are acknowledged in the publication, and those providing enhanced support also benefit from discounted print copies.
The initiative reflects an increasingly important movement within European open science ecosystems: extending openness beyond research publications and data to include teaching and learning resources.
The project also demonstrates how consortia, libraries, publishers and academic communities can collaborate to create sustainable models for open textbooks.
The Couperin consortium coordinates the funding campaign and redistributes contributions to project partners through dedicated agreements with participating institutions.
Importantly, the initiative is conceived as a long-term collection. Should funding exceed the immediate needs of the legal studies ebook, remaining resources will support future open textbooks currently envisioned in economics, management and biology.
Institutions wishing to support the project can still contribute through the ongoing funding campaign.
The ebooks are published in French and is expected to be of particular interest not only to audiences in France, but also to students, teachers and institutions across the wider French-speaking world, including Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec and other francophone communities interested in open educational resources.
The ebooks are available online at the following links:
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