36C77623Q0424.docx

SUBJECT*

Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmark

GENERAL INFORMATION

Program Contracting Activity Central

6100 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 490 Independence OH 44131

POINT OF CONTACT*

Clement.Udeani@va.gov Clement Udeani Clement.Udeani@va.gov 614.425.7020

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

Special Notice Special Notice

DESCRIPTION

Special Notice

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

CINAHL BIBLIOGRAPHIC AND FULL-TEXT DATABASE

Special Notice to Sole Source to CLARIVATE ANALYTICS (US) LLC The Department of Veterans Affairs, Program Contract Activity Central intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), Only One Responsible Source Available, no other source will satisfy agency requirements.

The Veterans Affairs intends to solicit and negotiate with CLARIVATE ANALYTICS (US) LLC for the purchase of Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmarking subscription. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) requires an existing commercial off the shelf web-based database, Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmarking subscription, containing bibliographic and full-text journals that will be made available all VA Central Office (VACO) Library staff and employees. Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) is an advanced scientific research database that provides a comprehensive online index to articles from major journals in all areas of science and technology. SCIE is a trusted citation index database with over 61 million records. SCIE interconnected web platform cover-to-cover indexing makes search efficient to find authors, affiliation data, subject classification, and reverse linking to reference citation in journal article. SCIE fully indexes over 9,500 major journals across 182 scientific disciplines and over 1.1 billion cited references dating back to 1900.

InCites Benchmarking allows the user to assess, compare, evaluate, and measure the organization’s research impact against peer institutions and regional/global performance baselines, and export underlying data for re-use within internal business systems.

This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. However, any responsible source who believes it can meet the requirement may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency, only if received by the closing date and time of this notice. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government.

Responses to this notice are due June 27, 2023, no later than 11:00 AM (EST) Point of contact for this notice is Clement Udeani, who can be reached by email at Clement.Udeani@va.gov. Department of Veteran Affairs Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC) 6100 Oak Tree Blvd., Suite 490 Independence, Ohio 44131

Statement of Work Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration

VA Central Office Library

Science Citation Index-Expanded and InCites Benchmarking Subscription

April 2023 A. General Information

1.0 Introduction:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VA Central Office (VACO) Library requires an existing, commercial, off-the-shelf, web-based electronic subscription to Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmarking which will be made available to all VA Central Office (VACO) Library staff and employees.

2.0 Background:

Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) is an advanced scientific research database that provides a comprehensive online index to articles from major journals in all areas of science and technology. SCIE is a trusted citation index database with over 61 million records. SCIE interconnected web platform cover-to-cover indexing makes search efficient to find authors, affiliation data, subject classification, and reverse linking to reference citation in journal article. SCIE fully indexes over 9,500 major journals across 182 scientific disciplines and over 1.1 billion cited references dating back to 1900.

InCites Benchmarking allows the user to assess, compare, evaluate, and measure the organization’s research impact against peer institutions and regional/global performance baselines, and export underlying data for re-use within internal business systems.

3.0 Scope of Work:

a. The contractor shall provide all VACO employees with online access to a single online, web-based subscription to Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmarking. Authentication shall be through IP address validation on a network gateway basis, eliminating the need for users to enter identification, username and/or password.

b. The contractor shall provide an unrestricted number of simultaneous users with immediate access from any web-enabled computer within VA Central Office. It is required that all authorized remote users with VPN access have access to the product.

c. The contractor shall assure the requirements listed in paragraphs 5, Information Scope, 6, Information Quality, 7, Usability, and 8, Access, Content, Support, are addressed.

4.0 Performance Period: One (1) year from date of award, plus four (4) one (1) year option periods to be exercised at the discretion of the Government.

5.0 Information Scope: The contractor shall assure the product includes:

a. Knowledge-based information covering science and technology topics.

b. Citations from the world's leading journals of science and technology.

c. Comprehensive information in a single product available for stand-alone purchase or license, independent of complementary or companion products offered by the contractor.

6.0 Information Quality: The contractor shall assure:

a. Information is accurate, authoritative, and relevant.

b. Authors and sources are well recognized subject experts in their fields.

c. Policies for determining validity and standards for inclusion of material are well described.

7.0 Usability: The contractor shall assure:

a. Navigation within the system is logical and is easy to use.

b. The product has “user friendly” help and direction aids.

c. Technical and accessibility, and work stoppage issues to Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and InCites Benchmarking are preferably resolved in 24 hours, or the least amount of time to lessen operational impact.

8.0 Access, Content, Support: The contractor shall assure:

a. Product is 508 compliant (http://www.section508.gov/). If product is not 508 compliant, the contractor shall describe measures being taken to bring product into compliance and date, within 12 months of contract award, that product will be 508 compliant. Or, if product is not 508 compliant, the contractor shall describe why no work is being done to make it 508 compliant.

b. The product is compatible Internet Explorer and with most other standard web browsers, which have cookies enabled. To ensure privacy, the product uses session cookies rather than persistent cookies.

c. All site content and support of the web site is the responsibility of the contractor. This includes tech support to VHA users nationwide.

d. System downtime is minimal and VA project manager is notified when such occurs.

e. Information is easily printed.

f. A single point of contact for customer service issues is assigned to VA.

g. Questions are responded to within two (2) business days.

h. Usage statistics are available to the system administrator on an enterprise and IP level.

i. The product is accessible via a variety of personal mobile devices including Apple and Android devices.