The forces driven by technological innovation are increasingly transforming the publishing landscape.
For several years now, substantial changes have been proposed to the development model of scientific publications due to new policies and perspectives on the production, distribution, and globalization of knowledge. These have led to serious questioning of long-established practices in this traditionally conservative field (1).

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the publishing industry had already been undergoing significant changes, driven by the transformation of technology and knowledge management in the areas of production, handling, and globalization. These trends have forced a reevaluation of the economic and production models of all types of journals, including medical ones (2).

The global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has brought important lessons. It is now possible to say that the way science is conducted and communicated globally is changing—perhaps permanently. While political responses involved the closing of borders, the scientific community broke down boundaries, fostering unprecedented global collaboration (3).

Scientific journals have traditionally been the primary outlet for scientific communication. During the crisis, major publishing houses created special sections for coronavirus-related content and provided open access to articles, drastically reducing communication times in a real-time battle to maintain readership and deliver important, timely information that could aid patient care. Because of the urgent need for scientific information, much of the research was published as preprints—preliminary publications that have existed for years precisely because the peer-review process is typically lengthy (4).

The pandemic has unexpectedly accelerated processes already underway. Other forms of scientific communication have gained strength—such as expert teleconferences, which enabled real-time learning from other parts of the world and allowed for tailored responses as the virus spread. The use of telemedicine has surged, and medical education has rapidly embraced virtual platforms as a lifeline in the face of physical distancing, becoming a key tool during social isolation measures.

Never before have so many experts in so many countries focused so urgently on a single issue. Many likely feel these changes are happening too fast and still need time to settle. But the truth is that most of the technologies being used during the pandemic have been around and promoted for many years.

PANLAR has historically used various vehicles to share rheumatology knowledge in our region. These include the publication of Acta Reumatológica in 1950, the Inter-American Archives of Rheumatology in 1957, and the PANLAR Bulletin in 1982. The partnership with the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology (JCR), which became PANLAR’s official journal in 2001, gave us access to an indexed journal that currently has an impact factor of 1.89 (5).

We believe the time is right to present a global project from the Pan-American region—something we’ve been working on for over a year at the request of the Executive Committee. We’ve shared the initiative with members of the Board of Directors, Editorial Committee, study groups, and many others in our organizational network, whose unwavering support and feedback have brought us to this new stage. When we officially presented the platform’s first mock-up alongside developers and close collaborators—now a strong team—we made it clear that our goal was not to replicate existing projects, but to invest in the future. Not the future of journals (of which there are likely enough), but the future of scientific communication.

**With this project, we aim to bridge several gaps in the dissemination of scientific knowledge—**such as the limited impact of publications beyond strictly academic settings, the overreliance on citations, and the need to promote metrics that are truly relevant for the 21st century. We also aim to streamline editorial processes, better recognize reviewers, and elevate the science produced by the wide community that makes up our league—all while upholding the standards expected by the global rheumatology community and maintaining a foundation of equity, human ethics, and scientific integrity.

Global Rheumatology by PANLAR (GRP) is a knowledge dissemination platform designed with new generations in mind, though the pandemic has clearly shown that its time has come. GRP offers a unique combination: a section for original research articles and other traditional journal content, and a magazine section focused on communicating the significance of the published research or studies emerging from our community. Both sections will be integrated, intuitive, user-friendly, and visually engaging—making GRP immediately stand out from traditional journals.

We want GRP to be a journal for reading (devoted to its audience), publishing (for peer knowledge sharing), and disseminating (so science can meaningfully reach the general public)—a 21st-century rheumatology journal. The first of its kind in our field and in our community. We aim to give rheumatology a new perspective—one that cannot be fully realized by continuing to follow rules designed in the 19th and 20th centuries.

We hope that PANLAR’s proposal to the global rheumatology community will be well received and will help promote the specialty not just within our region, but worldwide—allowing your ideas and experiences to be more widely known and helping this platform become one of the preferred places to publish and share the work of a truly global community.