Elsevier B.V. 2024 JOFOC signed_Redacted.pdf

JOFOC-2024-002

Rev.:4/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For 80NSSC24Q0021/ NASA ELSEVIER SUBCRIPTION AGREEMENT

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA Shared Services Center

(NSSC).

The contracting activity is the NSSC Procurement Operations Branch.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award a sole-source purchase order to Elsevier for Elsevier Bond Value (B.V.) ScienceDirect online subscriptions. Elsevier is the only known source that can meet the Agency requirements.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

NASA Langley Center Operations Directorate (COD) manages the 6,000 authorized users of Elsevier through the Langley Technical Library. To further the Center’s research capabilities, the Library subscribes to numerous engineering, science, and specialty research area subscriptions for use by our science, research, and engineering community. Subscription benefits for each authorized user includes: user access, downloading and printing capabilities, and sharing the individual journal articles with a limited number of third party colleagues. Elsevier is the world’s leading publisher of science, technology, and health information including approximately 2,500 journals and more than 38,000 e-books and major reference works containing over 15 million peer-reviewed publications from Elsevier and their publishing partners. Also, Elsevier is the only source for access to Elsevier, its affiliates, and other publishers under license: Science Direct @ sciencedirect.com. Elsevier is an information analytics business specializing in science and health information and resources.

Elsevier has digitized as much of the pre-1995 journal-owned content as possible, bringing articles onto ScienceDirect from as far back as 1823. An additional year of content will be added each year that the subscription remains in force. ScienceDirect provides access to comprehensive, interdisciplinary knowledge for researchers in areas of interest to NASA researchers. Elsevier’s eBooks help researchers explore unfamiliar subject matter, branch into related disciplines, and develop an understanding of emerging technologies and subject analytics for over 140 years and helps researchers advance science for the benefit of society.

By facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers, Elsevier upholds the highest standards of quality, integrity at scale to ensure value to customers in the form of analytics and research.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

A notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (Sam.gov) was published on December 15, 2023 and closed on December 19, 2023, in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2.

This posting informed potential sources of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source purchase order to Elsevier B.V. The results of this synopsis are summarized in Section 10 below.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated price to the government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable. The Contacting Officer will determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable based on one of the techniques identified in FAR Subpart 13.106-3- Award Documentation. This procurement is for a commercial item. Thus, the price can be determined fair and reasonable based on a comparison of the established market price, historical pricing, and current price lists. NASA has historical contract information from previous awards with Elsevier, and there are no anticipated issues that would circumvent fair and reasonable price determination. The Contracting Officer will determine price reasonableness during the proposal evaluation process prior to contract award.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

NASA Langley Office of the Chief Information Officer & Information Management Branch (OCIO / IMB) manages the Langley Technical Library and has conducted a review.

In December 2023, the NSSC also performed market research in accordance with FAR 8.002, to review mandatory sources such as the Mandatory Government Sources List and determined that there was no availability from those sources. A review of GSA Advantage was performed, and the requisite subscription services are not available on GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts. A review of the NASA SEWP contract was conducted as well, and it was determined that NASA SEWP does not allow for subscription procurements.

A Google search was performed, and no additional sources were found. The continued use of

ScienceDirect online subscription is essential to the Center’s research mission capabilities.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

The ScienceDirect package is based on specific NASA needs to allow unlimited NASA personnel to have access to articles, publications, programs, organizations, and topics that have impact on their respective programs and projects, so employees maintain knowledge of current events in their fields of interest in order to perform their jobs. Elsevier provides access to the content and resources it publishes through ScienceDirect. Elsevier has a strong legacy of structuring and delivering data to global customers. The continued use of ScienceDirect online subscription is essential to the Center’s research mission capabilities. It would cost an estimated $500k or more to utilize another source to provide a comparable subscription that includes the in-depth quality of research provided through the Elsevier subscription, and this additional expense is not expected to be recovered through competition. Elsevier is one of the largest academic publishers in the world, with a reputation for publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed research across a wide range of fields. No other vendor is able to provide the collection of academic literature required.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

A notice of NASA’s intent to award this sole-source action was synopsized on the GPE website (Sam.gov) per FAR Subpart 5.2 (See Section 6). The notice of intent yielded no responses.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The Agency will continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions for the same requirements. Due to the nature of the expressed requirement, there are no known actions which the Agency may take to consider other manufactures for the requirements described herein. Prior to the award of future orders, market research will be conducted to determine if new potential sources are available.