Changes in access to American research databases

There are initiatives aimed at mitigating the consequences. For instance, The Data Rescue Project, which was established in February 2025 in response to political decisions affecting access to critical data. The project aims to preserve public U.S. datasets that are at risk of being removed, altered, or made inaccessible.

"At the library, we are very aware of the situation. Our subject experts monitor and follow developments, and we will, of course, continuously inform the relevant academic communities. We encourage researchers and students to contact the library if they experience irregularities with access to specific resources," Bertil F. Dorch, Library Director

The library has observed changes in the following resources:

• The ERIC database has been reduced
  The U.S. Department of Education has, since April 24, 2025, reduced ERIC’s (Education Resources Information Center) active indexing by approximately 45%, meaning fewer journals and documents are being updated and made available. At the same time, ERIC’s helpdesk has been closed, and a number of titles have been entirely removed from the database.
  
  Previously, ERIC indexed approximately 1,200 journals and about 600 non-journals. Going forward, only about 700 journals and about 500 non-journals will be actively indexed. Earlier publications from the deactivated journals will remain available in ERIC (from before April 2025), but they will no longer be maintained. Additionally, 58 journals and 101 non-journals have been entirely removed, meaning access to articles from these titles is no longer possible. ERIC’s Help Desk is also closed.
  
  The Data Rescue Project has created ERICA – an open access archive with approximately 500,000 documents collected from ERIC. Additionally, ProQuest has launched the database Education Research Index, which currently covers approximately 75% of the former ERIC content. The database can be used independently but is also part of ProQuest’s Education Collection, which remains the most comprehensive database within pedagogy, education, and learning. (Depending on needs, it can be supplemented with, for example, SCOPUS for British journals – and/or other databases).
  ProQuest also offers this list (xls opens in browser), which provides an overview of the removed titles from ERIC.
  
  Contact Senior Consultant Kirstin Remvig for questions about ERIC.
• Within health sciences, similar trends are observed, where there may be irregularities, missing updates, and omissions due to reduced financial support from the U.S. government. This includes, among others, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM), including PubMed, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
  Read more in the article “Government Shutdown: How It May Affect Access to Medical Information Resources” “Government shutdown: How it may affect access to medical information resources” from Stony Brook University Library
   
  Contact Research Librarian Mette Brandt Eriksen or Librarian Berit Elisabeth Alving for questions about PubMed and CDC.