REDACTED JA FAR Part 13 (JUNE 2025) Final_Redacted.pdf

CUI//SP-PROCURE//FEDCON

Control Number: JA-26-Adel-0129 subscription supports mission-critical research conducted by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in the areas of electrical engineering, electronics, and computer science.

IEEE is a globally recognized professional association for electrical and electronic engineering and related disciplines. It produces a substantial portion of the world’s peer-reviewed literature in these fields, publishing approximately 200 journals and magazines and more than 1,200 conference proceedings annually. Collectively, IEEE publications represent over 30 percent of the global scholarly output in electrical engineering, electronics, and computer science. This body of literature, including journals and hundreds of IEEE-sponsored conferences, is made available exclusively through the IEEE Xplore platform.

IEEE holds exclusive legal copyright to its publications and associated interfaces, as authors are required to transfer copyright to IEEE as a condition of publication. As a result, IEEE content is proprietary and is not licensed, resold, or distributed through third-party vendors or aggregators. Access to IEEE scholarly literature is available only through IEEE Xplore, and IEEE is the sole source capable of providing this content. No other vendor can provide equivalent access to IEEE’s journals, magazines, or conference proceedings.

Full and open competition is not feasible for this requirement because IEEE Xplore is a proprietary, brand-name digital library protected by copyright and exclusive distribution rights. There are no available technical data packages, specifications, statements of work, or purchase descriptions that would enable competition, as the content itself is unique to IEEE and cannot be replicated or substituted by another source. Any attempt to develop a competitive alternative would require ARL to forgo access to IEEE-exclusive literature, resulting in unacceptable degradation of research capability.

Competing this requirement would result in substantial duplication of costs without corresponding benefit to the Government. ARL researchers have relied on IEEE Xplore for approximately fifteen (15) years, integrating its content into ongoing and planned mission-critical research efforts. Transitioning to alternative resources would require significant additional expenditures of time and labor to identify, evaluate, and adapt to less comprehensive or non-equivalent sources, while still failing to recover access to IEEE-exclusive content. These duplicate costs would not be offset by any anticipated savings through competition, as no competing source can provide the same scope or depth of literature.

Without renewal of the IEEE electronic library subscription, ARL researchers would lose access to critical engineering and computer science literature necessary to support current and future mission requirements. This loss would result in unacceptable delays in research execution and diminished technical capability. ARL researchers have consistently identified IEEE Xplore as a vital and indispensable resource for their work, and loss of access would negatively impact research quality, efficiency, and mission success.

This requirement represents a follow-on procurement to prior IEEE electronic library subscriptions that have been continuously maintained for approximately fifteen (15) years. There have been no significant changes in the requirement, the availability of competing sources, or IEEE’s exclusive ownership of its published content since the prior justification.

This requirement is justified as a brand-name procurement in accordance with DFARS

213.501 and DFARS 206.302-1(c)(2). The IEEE Xplore Digital Library is a proprietary, brand-name product that provides exclusive access to IEEE scholarly publications, including peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and conference proceedings in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and computer science. IEEE holds exclusive legal copyright to its publications and platform interfaces, and its content is not licensed, resold, or made available through third-party vendors. As a result, no other product or vendor can provide equivalent access to IEEE’s copyrighted literature.

The specific brand-name requirement is essential to meet ARL mission needs because IEEE Xplore is the sole source for this body of technical literature, which directly supports ARL’s mission-critical research activities. Use of an alternative product would not satisfy the Government’s requirements, as substitute databases do not contain IEEE-exclusive content and therefore cannot provide the same scope, depth, or authoritative research material. Accordingly, specifying the IEEE Xplore Digital Library as a brand-name requirement is necessary to fulfill the Government’s minimum needs and is consistent with DFARS requirements governing proprietary and brand-name acquisitions.

b. Alternatives: Several alternatives were considered in lieu of approving this justification and proceeding with a brand-name, other than full and open competition procurement for the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. Each alternative was evaluated for feasibility, impact to mission, cost, and risk to the Government.

a. Suspension of Contract Support Suspending or discontinuing the IEEE Xplore subscription was considered and determined to be unacceptable. Loss of access would immediately deprive ARL researchers of essential engineering and computer science literature that directly supports ongoing and planned mission-critical research. IEEE Xplore contains proprietary content that cannot be accessed through other sources. Suspension would result in unacceptable delays, degraded research quality, and increased risk to mission execution.

b. Use of In-House Resources Use of in-house resources was also considered; however, ARL does not possess the rights, infrastructure, or legal authority to host, reproduce, or distribute IEEE’s copyrighted publications. Developing an internal repository of comparable content would require obtaining rights from IEEE and thousands of individual authors, which is not feasible. Additionally, the cost, time, and technical effort required to replicate the scope, depth, and functionality of IEEE Xplore would be prohibitive and would still not result in access to IEEE-exclusive content.

c. Conducting a Competitive Acquisition

Conducting a competitive acquisition was considered and determined not to be viable. IEEE Xplore is a proprietary, brand-name product protected by copyright, and IEEE does not license or sell its content through third-party vendors. No other vendor can provide access to IEEE’s journals, magazines, and conference proceedings. Competition would therefore not yield a technically acceptable alternative and would result in substantial duplication of costs without corresponding benefit to the Government.

d. Use of Alternative Commercial Databases

The use of alternative commercial research databases was evaluated.

While other databases may provide access to engineering-related literature, none contain IEEE-exclusive publications. Substituting alternative databases would result in significant gaps in coverage, loss of authoritative and peer-reviewed content, and diminished research capability. These alternatives do not meet the Government’s minimum requirements.

e. Extension of the Current Contract Extension of the current contract was considered as an interim solution.

However, this action alone does not eliminate the need for an approved justification for other than full and open competition, as the underlying proprietary and sole-source nature of the requirement remains unchanged. Therefore, an extension without proper justification would not be sufficient to meet regulatory requirements.

f. Establishment of a Noncompetitive Contract with IEEE

Establishing a noncompetitive contract with IEEE through approval of this justification was determined to be the only viable and acceptable alternative. IEEE is the sole source capable of providing access to its proprietary scholarly literature through IEEE Xplore. Approval of this justification ensures continuity of critical research support, avoids unacceptable mission impact, and complies with applicable FAR and DFARS authorities.

g. Conclusion

After evaluating all reasonable alternatives, approval of this justification and award of a noncompetitive, brand-name contract to IEEE is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. This approach ensures uninterrupted access to mission-essential research resources, avoids substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays, and satisfies ARL’s minimum requirements.

c. Impact if not approved: If this justification is not approved, ARL would be unable to renew its subscription to the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, resulting in the immediate loss of access to IEEE’s proprietary engineering and computer science literature. This content is protected by copyright and available exclusively through IEEE, making it unobtainable through alternative sources or competitive procurement.

Disapproval would cause unacceptable delays to ongoing and planned mission-critical research activities, as researchers would be required to suspend work, seek incomplete or inferior substitutes, or redesign research efforts to account for the loss of authoritative IEEE publications. These delays are not the result of a lack of planning but stem from the proprietary nature of the requirement and the absence of viable alternatives.

Additionally, attempting to create competition or replace IEEE Xplore with alternative resources would result in substantial duplication of costs. The Government would incur significant labor and administrative costs to evaluate non-equivalent databases, retrain personnel, and reestablish research workflows, without recovering access to IEEE-exclusive content. These costs would not be offset by any anticipated savings.

Overall, disapproval of this justification would materially degrade ARL’s research capability, negatively impact research quality and timelines, and increase risk to mission execution. Approval of this justification is therefore necessary to avoid unacceptable delay, unnecessary duplication of costs, and harm to ARL’s mission-critical research objectives.

7. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Based on the market research performed by the to date, no other vendors other than IEEE were found to fulfill the Government’s requirement. ARL researchers have not found identified alternate sources for services either or the breadth or depth of those under IEEE Xplore’s electronic library. An Intent to Sole Source Synopsis was posted on SAM.gov on 04 February 2026 and closed on 11 February 2026. At the closing of the Notice of Intent to Sole Source there were no sources that expressed any interest in the acquisition. Due to a lack of interest from any other vendors, it is in the best interest of the Government to pursue a contract subscription with IEEE who is the owner of the access rights to their electronic library.

a. Effective competition: Because this is a sole source action, effective competition is not applicable.

b. Subcontracting competition: As the subscription platform is managed and maintained by IEEE, there are no subcontracting opportunities involved with this procurement.

8. Actions to Increase Competition: ARL will continue to peruse the commercial marketplace by conducting web searches, contacting knowledgeable personnel in industry, and contact electronic scientific platforms to survey if any new resources can provide online full access similar to IEEE’s Xplore electronic library. Currently, there are no known sources available that provide a more comprehensive database.

9. Market Research: Market research was conducted from December 2025 to January 2026 . Avenues of research included internet searches, contracting knowledgeable people including the

, and review of the previous purchases including W911QX25PA022 W911QX23P0039, W911QX22P0029, W911QX21P0065, and W911QX17P0025. Currently there are no third-party resellers capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirement for the IEEE Explore electronic subscription. Therefore, based on the sole source reasons of compatibility and proprietary information, IEEE is the only vendor capable of meeting the Government’s requirement.

01 February

b. Other facts: None