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An update on federally-funded data

July 30, 2025

Earlier this month, the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) published a report titled, “America’s Data Future: Towards A Roadmap for Action,” which provides an excellent and rich synthesis of the challenges facing federally-funded data, both that which is generated directly by government agencies like the U.S. Census Bureau or the U.S. Department of Agriculture and that which is generated through the research funding provided by federal agencies to principal investigators working across the spectrum of science.  See more related to this report here: https://www.opendataenterprise.org/publications#research

Many of you may have questions or concerns about federally-funded data, and there has been a lot happening since January 2025.  This post will provide an overview of some of the most frequently asked questions as well as information about data sources and ongoing efforts.  The MBLWHOI Library staff is here to help as well, and we’re always happy to answer questions.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at dla@whoi.edu

The evolving landscape of federally-funded data

Since January 2025, there have been several rapid changes in the U.S. federally-funded data landscape.  Several datasets have been updated in ways that remove variables that had been previously published, and some datasets have been removed entirely.  There have been a series of announcements and public notices around various datasets (what the government usually calls “data products”) that announce their intended elimination, such as these notices from NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

dataindex.us created the Information Collection Request (ICR) Tracker to follow these kinds of notices across the U.S. federal government: https://dataindex.us/icr

In some cases, ongoing and new data collection efforts in existing datasets (including many long-running time series) have been stopped, but the existing archival data remains accessible.  In other cases, access to datasets has been eliminated entirely (e.g., the website providing access has been taken down).  The changes have been rapid and have covered wide areas of research data from across the range of federal agencies.

In response, many organizations have sprung into action, some of them having been active in the data preservation and access space for a long time and others newly created in response to the changes since January 2025.  The CODE document provides a good overview of those efforts, and their U.S. Data Action Hub website is a great resource for exploring the groups and initiatives that are currently underway: http://bit.ly/us-data-action-hub

The MBLWHOI Library has connections to some of these organizations and efforts, and we can help you connect with other folks in your research community or identify places where data might be preserved and available.

Frequently asked questions

What data is being preserved?

It varies by agency, but the short answer is that the groups working to preserve and archive data are trying to save anything that is at-risk.  Data may be identified as being at-risk because of an agency’s announcement, nomination or suggestion to the rescue groups, or through changes to funding resources.  Data is being preserved and archived in several places, including web portals like Data Lumos, which is part of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and through academic torrents curated by groups like Safeguarding Research & Culture and SciOp: https://sciop.net/datasets/

If you have concerns about a specific dataset, either about where to access an archival copy or if it’s been preserved, please reach out to us at dla@whoi.edu

Is the repository I am using at-risk?

Again, the answer here varies, but, generally, the community is most concerned about repositories and other data access points hosted directly by the U.S. federal government.  In other words, websites with .gov domains,  including sub-agencies, are of most concern.  Some government agencies have established web portals with .org addresses but those sites are still at-risk because they are directly controlled by the U.S. federal government and dependent upon federal government employees and funding.

If you would like to discuss a specific repository, please reach out to the library at dla@whoi.edu

Is the data I am using going to disappear?

One of the most important mantras about data I’ve ever learned is that “data that doesn’t exist in more than one place doesn’t exist.”  Rather than focusing on future uncertainties around data, this is a great moment to refresh yourself with the best practices and strategies for research data management that will protect you against data loss from any kind of risk, whether it be catastrophic hard drive failure or funding curtailments.  The three main areas of concern are documentation, preservation, and access.  If you do not already have systems and workflows in place to ensure that the data you rely upon is backed up and secure, today is a great day to begin.  The MBLWHOI Library has resources to help you start your research data management planning, and our librarians are happy to meet with you to come up with a personalized strategy for you and your lab.  Reach us at dla@whoi.edu 

What should I do with my research data?

If you are currently sharing your research data via a federally-funded portal that you are concerned is at risk, you have the option of depositing your data in the MBLWHOI Library Dataverse: https://dataverse.whoi.edu/

This is an evolution of the Woods Hole Open Access Server aimed specifically at supporting access to research data and its preservation for the future.  If you have data that you’d like to make available in the MBLWHOI Library Dataverse, please submit a deposit request using this form.

If your funder requires you to submit your data to a specific repository, you need to follow the guidance of your funder.  If you are concerned that the repository required by your funder might not be able to guarantee long-term preservation, please reach out to the library at dla@whoi.edu to discuss a plan.

How can I help with preserving at-risk U.S. federally-funded data?

There are many ways to get involved.  The team behind the Data Rescue Project is always looking for more volunteers, as is the Safeguarding Research & Culture group.  Many of the groups on the CODE page are seeking support: http://bit.ly/us-data-action-hub

 

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