In this review we summarize the recent calculations and improvements of atomic data that we have carried out for the analysis of astrophysical spectroscopy within the atomic processes for astrophysical plasmas network. We briefly discuss the various methods used for the calculations, and highlight several issues that we have uncovered during such extensive work. We discuss the completeness and accuracy of the cross sections for ionic excitation by electron impact for the main isoelectronic sequences, which we have obtained with large-scale calculations. Given its astrophysical importance, we emphasize the work on iron. Some examples on the significant improvement that has been achieved over previous calculations are provided.