Elsevier_J A__-_Redacted_for_Synopsis.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

NOTE: If a Justification and Approval was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved J&A for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant J&A. This applies to J&A staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor J&A will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Choose the funding level for this J&A Document:

< $700K > $700K and < $13.5M > $13.5M and < $93M > $93M

Contracting Activity: AFLCMC/PZIEC

Purchase Request / Local ID Number:

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): Elsevier Freedom Package

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): AFIT/ENWL (AFIT Library)

Authority (include full title): FAR 13.106-1(b) Soliciting from a single source & 13.501(a) Sole Source Acquisitions

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date Contracting Officer

AFLCMC/PZIEC COMM: 937-656-7426

Signature

Date

03 Nov 2015

Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity

AFIT/ENWL COMM: 937-255-6565x4214

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date Contracting Officer

AFLCMC/PZIEC COMM: 937-656-7426

Date: 2015.12.17 16:04:15 -05'00'

Date: 2015.12.17 14:31:18 -05'00'

Date: 2015.12.17 16:04:36 -05'00'

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

I. Contracting Activity.

This justification and approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements generated for the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) D'Azzo Library. The contracting activity for this requirement is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Enterprise Contracting Division (AFLCMC/PZIE). he purchase request number supporting this contract action is .

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

Due to the circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to acquire electronic access to the Elsevier Freedom Package and other journals listed in Section III below using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by FAR 13.106(b) and 13.501(a). This individual action will result in the award of a new Firm Fixed Price Purchase Order. The period of performance for this effort is a twelve (12) month basic effort. This sole source requirement will be acquired from the following company:

Elsevier B.V.

Radarweg 29 1043 NX Amsterdam, The Netherlands

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

Elsevier is one of the premier science and technology publishers. Having been in the scientific publishing business for over 100 years, they offers a highly specialized, copyrighted product. The Elsevier subscription includes, but is not limited to, titles such as Acta Astronautica, AD HOC Networks and Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables. In addition to the Elsevier subscription, the Elsevier Freedom Collection Backfile is also included. The Freedom Collection backfile provides access rights for material that was previously fully subscribed to, but is no longer available through the subscription. Without a subscription to the Freedom Collection, AFIT could potentially lose access to the relevant publications recorded in the backfile.

The Elsevier subscription is used heavily within the Air Force Institute of Technology education and training programs by students, enlisted forces, academic research faculty, engineers, and civilian training participants. The many titles within the Elsevier subscription are crucial to the IT education and training programs and ensures the use of up-to-date, real time information. The Elsevier subscriptions improve research time, efficiency and prevents wasteful duplication of processes. The cost of the Elsevier annual subscription is . The cost of the Elsevier Freedom Collection backfile is . The total cost of the Elsevier procurement is . The anticipated period of performance is 01 January 2016 to 31 December 2016.

This subscription consists of electronic publications hosted by Elsevier on their web-based digital content site (http://www.elsevier.com). It will be made available to AFIT by IP recognition as a 12-month subscription during 2016.

IV. Statutory authority permitting Other than Full and Open Competition.

FAR 13.106(b) Soliciting from a Single Source, FAR 13.501(a) Sole Source Acquisitions

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

AFIT has determined that the required product is available from only one responsible source, Elsevier. No other vendor has the capability to provide the research content that is unique to the journals published by Elsevier.

Additionally, the journals and conference proceeding coverage comes with unlimited digital access terms and can be exported into multiple formats as required by AFIT e-journal users. Furthermore, no vendors replied to the pre-solicitation Intent to Award Sole Source notice posted on FBO.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A pre-solicitation intent to award sole source synopsis was accomplished requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide these required publications. The market research (See Section VIII) and synopsis confirms the scientific publications required by AFIT are only available from Elsevier.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a), the Contacting Officer shall determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable. The basis of this determination is anticipated to be based on FAR 13.106-3(ii) and FAR 13.106-3(iii).

This has been previously procured by AFLCMC/PZI for the AFIT Library and the price shall be verified against current price lists, catalogs, or advertisements.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

SerialsSolutions 360 Core database was employed to verify any alternative sources of the journals described. No such vendors exist for the required journals without an embargo of the last several years of research. Citation anaylsis of AFIT-published research indicates that the titles described cannot be substituted by other journals from other publishers without negative impact to research quality, incurring an unproductive duplication of research and enduring costly delays.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None

X. List of sources, if any, that expressed interest in the acquisition.

Elsevier B.V.

Radarweg 29 1043 NX Amsterdam, The Netherlands

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

Steps that will be taken to remove barriers to competition include encouraging scientists and engineers to publish in other than Elsevier databases and publications; supporting Open Access (allowing anyone in the

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

world access to articles for free) initiatives and developing institutional repositories where scientists would self-archive and make their research more widely available.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.