Sole Source Justification_OAR Elsevier ScienceDirect Subscriptions_NRMA00002100296_Redacted.pdf

NR-MA0000-21-00296

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD USING SIMPLIFIED

PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901)

1. Agency and contracting activity.

Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), NOAA Central and Regional Libraries (NCRL).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

NOAA intends to award a new contract to Elsevier B.V.. A sole-source, firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract is contemplated for award.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

The requirement is to provide online, full-text access to journals and monographic titles that are only available on, and will be accessed through, Elsevier’s web-based platform, Science Direct. Specifically, the requirement is for access to 33 peer reviewed scientific journals (with archival access), the Freedom Collection (a collection of ~2,200 journals), and several monographic series titles. Access is required for 16 NOAA Libraries (“NOAA Library Network”) and NOAA facilities without a servicing library (NOAA-wide access).

NOAA researchers rely on Elsevier's journals in the fisheries, oceans, atmospheric and climatic, engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, and space physics fields to conduct research that is vital to the American public.

This subscription will allow NOAA libraries to provide critical and up-to-date research materials to scientists, administrators, and others working in related disciplines in support of NOAA's programs.

The journals and publications, available by subscription through ScienceDirect, are well-respected in the scientific community and are essential to NOAA research. They are used by NOAA scientific and technical staff to support policy and scientific and research determinations. The importance of these journals is demonstrated by the high level of use they receive. Since Fiscal Year 2017, over 38,000 articles were downloaded and over 56,000 published articles were archived by the NOAA Library Network and other NOAA facilities. Without access to these publications, NOAA's research staff would not be able to fulfill their basic missions and the overall quality of NOAA's research would be negatively impacted.

The total estimated value of this action is $ , and includes a base year and four (4) option years. The required subscription will provide access to titles from January 1st through December 31st of each year from 2022- 2026.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

x 41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR

13.501(a).

41 U.S.C. 1903, using SAP up to $13M for contingency operations as authorized by FAR 13.500(c) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

Exclusive Licensing Agreement/Restrictive Rights/Authorized Reseller -

Elsevier B.V. is the producer and copyright holder for the required titles and thus the only legal provider of the content. Elsevier B.V. does not grant sales rights to any journal subscription vendors for its online material. These titles are only available through an online subscription to Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform.

See attached documentation provided by Elsevier B.V. stating that it is the only source available for the unique collection of journals provided in ScienceDirect, as it is the owner of all rights, title and copyright to all material contained therein.

6. Description of 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 FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A synopsis of the proposed contract action, in accordance with FAR 5.201, was posted on April 2, 2021 to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) at beta.SAM.gov. No responses were received. Market Research was performed in an attempt to identify other sources that could fulfill this requirement; see a description of the findings in Section 8 below.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer will perform price analysis using the techniques described at FAR 13.106-3(a) to determine a fair and reasonable price. The prices will be compared to historical prices from previous contracts and to Elsevier B.V.’s current published commercial price list if needed.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was performed in an attempt to identify other sources that could fulfill this requirement. Market research included a search of the SBA, Dynamic Small Business Database, beta.sam.gov, GSA, internet searches, discussions with contracting personnel from other agencies, and a review of the results from a recent sources sought notice for a similar subscription; a full record of the market research conducted can be found in the attached Market Research Report. Based on this research, the Contracting Officer determines that there are no other sources available in the market that can fulfill this requirement.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

To date, no other sources have expressed interest in this requirement.

11. A statement of the 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.

Based on current market research, competition for this requirement is not feasible. However, NOAA NCRL will continue to pursue web searches, perform market surveys, and hold discussions among the Government and Academic library communities in an attempt to identify other sources. The biggest barrier to competition continues to be publisher copyright.