Intent_to_Award_DOIGFBO260011_1.pdf

Intent to Award Notice – DOIGFBO260012

The US Geological Survey (USGS) Library seeks to award a sole source contract with Frontiers Media SA (“Frontiers”). This contract establishes a flat fee, firm-fixed price contract to assist USGS authors with publishing open access (OA) articles.

The total anticipated period of performance will be 05/01/2026 - 04/30/2027.

The USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to Frontiers unless it is contacted by any vendor who believes they have similar technical expertise and can provide the same service(s). Vendors are invited to contact the Contracting Officer, Leah Williams via email at leah_williams@ios.doi.gov no later than 9:00 AM ED, Monday, April 27, 2026 with an affirmative answer.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (FAR 13.1)

The following information is provided to demonstrate the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications:

Nature of the Action Being Approved A One (1) Year Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract to support a Flat Fee Agreement with Frontiers Media SA (“Frontiers”).

Description of Supplies and Services

This procurement facilitates the establishment of a contract to assist USGS authors with publishing open access (OA) articles.

Under this contract, the Library requires an annual flat fee for eligible USGS scientists to publish OA articles. The publisher shall provide a flat fee, unlimited publishing arrangement that covers a coherent set of high impact journals in USGS mission areas; allows all accepted articles by eligible USGS authors in those journals to be published OA without individual Article Processing Charge (APC) payments; and consolidates invoicing and reporting so the Library can centrally track USGS publishing output and compliance with federal OA requirements.

Eligible USGS scientists must have the ability to publish OA articles in Frontiers journals. These journals include (but are not exclusively): Frontiers in Communication, Frontiers in Earth Science, Frontiers in Energy Research, Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry, Frontiers in Freshwater Science, Frontiers in Fuels, Frontiers in Geochemistry, Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Remote Sensing, Frontiers in Science, and Frontiers in Water. There must be no limits on the number of articles that can be published and all article types shall be included. All articles identified as eligible under this agreement will be published OA without payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC) by the author.

USGS scientists have already published approximately 150 OA articles between 2013 and 2025 in these journals. As a result, the publisher shall provide perpetual access to OA original research, peer mailto:%20leah_williams@ios.doi.gov reviewed articles in mineral exploration and resource development, petroleum and non-hydrocarbon energy research, geohazards and geo resilience, engineering geology, and hydrogeology.

Multiple users must be able to access all content simultaneously and from different locations both on or off the USGS network or VPN.

Statutory Authority The proposed action may be awarded without full and open competition under FAR 13.106-1– only one source reasonably available.

Rationale Supporting Use of Citation Frontiers is the sole publisher and authorized source of the required journals. The content is proprietary and not available through alternate publishers, commercial aggregators, or subscription intermediaries.

Frontiers provides perpetual access to OA original research, peer reviewed articles in mineral exploration and resource development, petroleum and non hydrocarbon energy research, geohazards and geo resilience, engineering geology, and hydrogeology, and uniquely does so across a single, fully OA portfolio that aligns with USGS mission areas. While other publishers may offer OA options in some of these disciplines, they typically do so through hybrid journals or scattered titles with individual APCs, which does not provide the same breadth of coverage, full OA access, or predictable costs needed for this flat fee model.

No other publisher can provide a flat fee, unlimited publishing, perpetual access arrangement that can meet all of USGS’ requirements.

Market Research Market research included web searches of major scholarly publishers, review of open access and hybrid OA publishing models, and direct communication with multiple vendors to explore institution level open access agreements. These efforts focused on identifying publishers able to offer a flat fee, unlimited publishing arrangement in journals that align with USGS mission areas and that would allow the Library to centrally manage and report on publishing output and costs. This research did not identify any additional sources offering a fully open, flat fee model that meets the Government’s minimum needs for consolidated APC payments, predictable annual costs, and integrated reporting across the relevant disciplines, and no resellers or third party intermediaries were found that could provide such services on behalf of other publishers. Market research concluded that Frontiers is the only digital publisher who can meet all of USGS’ requirements..

Future Plans to Permit Competition The USGS Library will continue to monitor the marketplace for the emergence of other competitive providers that can offer a fully open, flat fee publishing model meeting the Government’s minimum needs. At such time when additional sources become available, the USGS Library will vigorously compete the procurement of these services to the maximum extent practicable.

(End of Justification)