Review

. 2025 May 14;5(5):100845.

doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100845. Epub 2025 Apr 10.

Perceptual and technical barriers in sharing and formatting metadata accompanying omics studies

Yu-Ning Huang¹, Viorel Munteanu², Michael I Love³, Cynthia Flaire Ronkowski¹, Dhrithi Deshpande¹, Annie Wong-Beringer⁴, Russell Corbett-Detig⁵, Mihai Dimian⁶, Jason H Moore⁷, Lana X Garmire⁸, T B K Reddy⁹, Atul J Butte¹⁰, Mark D Robinson¹¹, Eleazar Eskin¹², Malak S Abedalthagafi¹³, Serghei Mangul¹⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
² Department of Computers, Informatics, and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, 2045 Chisinau, Moldova; Department of Biological and Morphofunctional Sciences, College of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania.
³ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA; Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁵ Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁶ Department of Computers, Electronics, and Automation, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania.
⁷ Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90069, USA.
⁸ Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA.
⁹ US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹⁰ Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Center for Data-Driven Insights and Innovation, University of California, Oakland, Oakland, CA 94607, USA.
¹¹ SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
¹² Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Department of Computers, Informatics, and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, 2045 Chisinau, Moldova; Department of Biological and Morphofunctional Sciences, College of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: serghei.mangul@gmail.com.

PMID: 40215974
PMCID: PMC12143318
DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100845

Review

Perceptual and technical barriers in sharing and formatting metadata accompanying omics studies

Yu-Ning Huang et al. Cell Genom. 2025.

. 2025 May 14;5(5):100845.

doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100845. Epub 2025 Apr 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
² Department of Computers, Informatics, and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, 2045 Chisinau, Moldova; Department of Biological and Morphofunctional Sciences, College of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania.
³ Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA; Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁵ Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁶ Department of Computers, Electronics, and Automation, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania.
⁷ Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90069, USA.
⁸ Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA.
⁹ US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹⁰ Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; Center for Data-Driven Insights and Innovation, University of California, Oakland, Oakland, CA 94607, USA.
¹¹ SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
¹² Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA; Department of Computers, Informatics, and Microelectronics, Technical University of Moldova, 2045 Chisinau, Moldova; Department of Biological and Morphofunctional Sciences, College of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, 720229 Suceava, Romania; Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: serghei.mangul@gmail.com.

PMID: 40215974
PMCID: PMC12143318
DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100845

Abstract

Metadata, or "data about data," is essential for organizing, understanding, and managing large-scale omics datasets. It enhances data discovery, integration, and interpretation, enabling reproducibility, reusability, and secondary analysis. However, metadata sharing remains hindered by perceptual and technical barriers, including the lack of uniform standards, privacy concerns, study design limitations, insufficient incentives, inadequate infrastructure, and a shortage of trained personnel. These challenges compromise data reliability and obstruct integrative meta-analyses. Addressing these issues requires standardization, education, stronger roles for journals and funding agencies, and improved incentives and infrastructure. Looking ahead, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning may offer promising solutions to automate metadata processes, increasing accuracy and scalability. Fostering a collaborative culture of metadata sharing will maximize the value of omics data, accelerating innovation and scientific discovery.

Keywords: barriers in metadata sharing practices; data; metadata; metadata completeness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests.

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Perceptual and technical barriers in sharing and formatting metadata accompanying omics studies

Affiliations

Perceptual and technical barriers in sharing and formatting metadata accompanying omics studies

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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