Combined_syn_solAcq of Web of Sciences-.docx

Hospital and Laboratory Support Division Office of Logistics and Operations (OLAO) Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management (OALM)

Title: Access to Web of Science, EndNote and Incites

Combined Synopsis Solicitation

Synopsis No. RFP-OD-04157

COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION WORKFORM

(1) Action Code: Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

(2) Date: October 23

(3) Year: 2026

(4) Contracting Office Zip Code: 20892

(5) Classification Code: 7630

(6) Contracting Office Address:

6701 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817

(7) Subject/Title: Access to Web of Science, EndNote and Incites

(8) Solicitation Number: RFP-OD-04157

(9) Closing Response Date: November 4, 2026 @ 6:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

(10) Questions Due Date: October 27, 2026 at 12:00 P.M Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

(11) Contact Point(s): Lynda Cole, Contracting Officer

(12) Contract Award Type: IDIQ

(13) Contract Award: TBD

(14) Contract Award Dollar Amount: TBD

(15) Contract Line Item Number(s): TBD

(16) Contractor Award Date: TBD

(17) Contractor Name: TBD

(18) Brand Name or Equal Acquisition (FAR 52.211-6): Yes

(19) Description:

(20) Provide the NIH and the HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library (DLS) access to the Web of Science product, which includes the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), the Conference Proceedings Citation Index, the Book Citation Index, Current Chemical Reactions, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Index Chemicus, BIOSIS Citation Index, Current Contents Connect, Data Citation Index, Derwent Innovations Index, and the Zoological Record. Access to Journal Citation Reports (JCR) shall also be included. Options for including InCites Benchmarking for NIH Library staff only and NIH and HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library should be included.

(21) Provide access to a desktop bibliographic management software that that includes 7000 citation styles, allows the creation of customized reference styles, allows users to provide read only access to their citation libraries, provides automatic reference and linking updates, allows users to view the activity of their collaborators in shared libraries and matches papers with relevant journals.

(22) The contractor at a minimum shall update the contents of the databases weekly. Journal Citation Reports (JCR) shall be updated annually.

(23) The contractor shall provide NIH with open-URL enabled software to allow third-party linking from the citations in the databases to electronic versions of NIH Library subscribed documents or to document delivery services using products such as Primo. Staff from NIH and HHS shall be taken to a view of the databases on Web of Science that includes only the link to their agency library.

(24) The contractor may provide additional services under a task order as needed.

(25) The contractor shall provide an option for DLS to add new resources as the contractor adds to its holdings through acquisition or publication of a new resource. The contractor also shall allow for modification of the contract for DLS to cancel selected resources should its funding be reduced.

(26) The contractor shall provide API access to the databases for NIH and HHS Digital Library users. The proposal should include detailed information on the type and terms of API access to be provided.

(27) The contractor will upgrade the web platform as needed to enhance or improve the functionality of the platform at no additional cost.

(28) Staff of NIH and HHS agencies shall be allowed to scan and search the database and print or download the results of their searches for their personal and work-related use. These searches may be either a repetitive scanning of all or portions of the database for regular updates using one or more terms, or may be one-time, non-repetitive, online interactive searches of all or part of the databases. Among the various search capabilities offered by the contractor, cited reference searching is required. The ability to create visualizations of author impact from cited references is also required.

(29) The contractor shall provide maintenance service in the form of periodic software updates and technical help support as part of the base price for the database and interface. Technical help support shall be available Monday through Friday during normal business hours.

(30) The contractor shall also provide documentation and training materials as appropriate. Training material may be modified to suit the needs of NIH and HHS agencies.

This requirement is for a base year plus four options. Please also submit pricing for an additional six month extensional option. Please reference RFP-OD-04157 on all email submissions.

(i) “This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.”

(ii) The solicitation number and a statement that the solicitation is issued as a request for quote (RFQ).

(iii) The solicitation document, the incorporated provisions, and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-07, effective August 29, 2024.

(iv) This solicitation is being released unrestricted. The NAICS code is 541940, and the small business size standard is 10.0M. This acquisition is being conducted in accordance with the procedures of FAR Part 12 and FAR Part 13.

(v) The Statement of Work and any terms and conditions relevant to the requirement are included as attachments.

(vi) The provisions at FAR Clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following addendum related to the Instructions to Offerors is included:

· Addendum to FAR Clause 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items. Please refer to this addendum for additional attachments, including the Statement of Work and other relevant information.

(vii) Evaluations will be conducted in accordance with the provision at FAR Clause 52.212-2. Offerors will be evaluated as follows:

EVALUATION-COMMERCIAL ITEMS (OCT 2014)

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

· Technical Proposal/Program Plan

· Organizational Experience

· Past Performance

· Personnel Experience and Availability

The Government will make award to the responsible vendor whose quote represents the best value to the Government, considering technical factors, past performance, and price. The Government may select a higher-priced quote if it is determined that the additional technical merit or lower performance risk warrants the price premium.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

Please refer to the addendum for additional evaluation information.

(viii) Each Offeror must include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications – Commercial Items, with its offer.

Please note, each Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website located at https://www.sam.gov/portal.

(ix) FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The terms and conditions outlined in the following addendum also apply:

· Addendum to FAR Clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items. Please refer to this addendum for additional terms and conditions related to the requirement.

(x) FAR Clause 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders – Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The full text version of FAR 52.212-5 included in the addenda as Attachment 5 indicate which FAR clauses and provisions are applicable to this acquisition.

(xi) Evaluation of Options Provision, The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic award. This solicitation notified offerors that the award will include the Government's unilateral option to extend performance for an additional period up to six months under FAR 52.217-8, during which the pricing and terms of the period in which the option was exercised would apply. The Government cannot predict if or when the option may be exercised. Because any exercise of the Government's option extends the pricing and terms of the period in which the option was exercised, the Government expressly and affirmatively evaluates pricing for the option to extend under 52.217-8 co-extensive with the Government's price evaluation for each of the base and option periods of this award. Because pricing for each period subject to possible extension under the 52.217-8 has been evaluated, pricing for any possible future use of that option to extend has, likewise, been evaluated and would apply in strict accordance with this evaluation in the event of the Government’s exercise of the option to extend services. (End of Provision)

(xii) Contact Information:

Contracting Officer: Lynda Cole Email: Lynda.cole@nih.gov

(31) Place of Contract Performance: Bethesda, MD

(32) Set-aside Status: N/A image1.png