The Annales are entering a new phase of their long history. Beginning with this issue, the journal will be available in two editions, in French and in English, both in print and online and published by Éditions EHESS in partnership with Cambridge University Press. This transformation is the continuation of a project launched in 2012 and outlined in an editorial published the same year, entitled “The Annales, Today and Tomorrow.”Footnote ¹ With the support of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), the EHESS, the Florence Gould Foundation, and the American University of Paris, the aim was to offer a full translation of all the articles published in the journal, presented in an online-only English edition and carefully edited to the same exacting standard as the French (available for the period 2012–2016 through the portals Cairn International, Cambridge Core, and soon via Revues.org).

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, a twofold trend had become increasingly apparent: a growth in overall readership was accompanied by a decline in subscriptions and in consultations of the print edition in favor of digital formats, and there was a gradual move away from French as an international language widely read by scholars.Footnote ² Faced with these transformations, the editorial board of the Annales decided to explore new forms of publication. Rejecting the false alternative between a systematic defense of the French language and the increasing publication of articles directly in English, we came up with the idea of a full bilingual edition (apart from the book reviews), which would not only enable us to introduce the most innovative Francophone research to communities far beyond France, but also to publish, in French, authors from all over the world. In addition, we chose to support the production and diffusion of the print journal, to which we remain very attached, with an ambitious policy for its digital development. The first results of these choices are already apparent, as the number of articles submitted to the journal in French and in other languages has increased significantly over the last five years.

From 2016, this overall evolution has led us to establish an editorial partnership with Cambridge University Press, whose savoir-faire and global reach represent a real asset for the Annales and Éditions EHESS. This collaboration will enable us to broaden the English-language diffusion of the research we present, in an unprecedented way and on a global scale. At the same time, it ensures the continued existence of a widely accessible French-language edition of the Annales, both in print and online. Finally, at a time when the crisis in humanities and social science publishing and falling research funding pose real problems for the diffusion of scholarly research, it not only consolidates the economic and intellectual autonomy of the journal but also secures its longevity.

We now have the means to bring the innovative academic projects that we hope to stimulate and nurture over the coming years to an audience that extends far beyond Francophone readers. Above all, and in the face of potentially destabilizing technological and institutional shifts, we have the space to follow and enrich the intellectual tradition we have inherited, and with a liberty true to the spirit of our founders. Readers, we hope that you will accompany us through this new era in the history of a journal that remains, first and foremost, the common good of those who write it, read it, and in so doing give it life.