Web of Science JA FAR 13.106.pdf

Control No: FY21-09

Version – February 2017 FOR OFFICIAL USE

Memorandum for Record – Limiting Competition at or below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

1. Contracting Activity: Mission and Installation Contracting Command - Dugway Proving Ground, Utah 84022.

2. Description of Action: Web of Science subscription to database of scientific journals and studies.

Nature: ☒ New Requirement ☐ Follow-on Requirement

Contract Vehicle: ☒ Purchase Order Number _______________________________ ☐ Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Number _______________ ☐ Order/BPA# _______ against FSS Contract #_____ _________ ☐ Order #___________ against Multiple Award IDIQ Contract Name or

☐ Order #_______ against a single award IDC Contract

☐ Modification # _______ to existing PO/TO/DO/Call Order #________________

Pricing/Contract Type: ☒ Fixed Price ☐ Time & Materials/Labor Hours ☐ Cost Reimbursable ☐ Hybrid

Funds: ☐ Operations & Maintenance, Army (OMA) ☒ Other Funds: RDTE

FY: 2021

Name of Contractor / Vendor: Clarivate Analytics Street Address: 1500 Spring Garden City, State, Zip Code: Philadelphia, PA 19130, United States Phone: 703 725 7848

Brand Name Buy: ☒ Yes ☐ No

3. Description of Services or Supplies: The estimated amount of this requirement is $193,000.

Web of Science (WoS) is a discovery database that allows researchers to search for a wide spectrum of scientific topics and filter them according to the needed parameters, such as by author, year, journal or proceeding, impact factor, keywords, content, other countries and authors doing the similar research, etc.

The results can be filtered repeatedly to narrow them as needed, sorted according to a number of factors, and organized by the database in charts and graphs. Searchers can also quickly identify freely accessible articles with full text. Scientists will be able to see the newest articles in their fields and subjects, as well as spot trends. The subscription will include five years of backfiles. The database is user-friendly and is the most-recognized in the field. Journals cover a wide range of fields. Results can be saved to a spreadsheet and downloaded.

The estimated period of performance for each subscription is:

Base Contract plus 4 Ordering Periods or 1 year each Period #1: June 1, 2021 - May 31, 2022 Period #2: June 1, 2022 - May 31, 2023 Period #3: June 1, 2023 - May 31, 2024 Period #4: June 1, 2024 - May 31, 2025

The Customer is Command Initiatives Division & the Scientific Divisions within the West Desert Test Center at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah.

4. Authority: Select the appropriate authority below: Only the brand Name Web of Science is Acceptable.

☒ FAR 13.106-1(b)(1): For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT), only one source reasonably available, urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization.

Or, ☐ FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A) Urgency ☐ FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) Only One Source is Capable ☐ FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) Logical Follow-on ☐ FAR 8.405-6(b)(1) Brand Name

Or, ☐ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A) Urgency ☐ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) Only One Awardee is Capable ☐ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) Logical Follow-on ☐ FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D) Minimum Guarantee ☐ FAR 16.505(a)(4) Brand Name

5. Reasons for Authority Cited:

Why is WoS the only source?

Web of Science (WoS) is an authoritative discovery database and the main one that has been used by libraries at U.S. universities and also globally for many years. Although newer databases have emerged in recent years associated with publishing companies, WoS is recognized as the flagship scholarly database with the broadest range of journals.

A review of the major general science databases was conducted: Web of Science, Scopus, two PubMed databases, Biological Sciences, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. Their range of scholarly journals was compared with the subjects most needed by Dugway scientists and the journals most respected in Dugway’s scientific fields. Web of Science consistently offered the best selection of authoritative journals for Dugway’s needs. Its closest competitor, Scopus, does not have the same, robust selection of journals, is not as user-friendly for searches and navigation, and has a conflict of interest in that it is owned by the Elsevier publishing company which favors its own journals. None of the other databases offer journals in the diverse fields needed by Dugway staff, nor do they have the capability to analyze results as WoS does.

As an added benefit, WoS also provides free, open-access articles and shows trends in each field.

What would be the impact if customer were to get an alternate product?

Dugway scientists conduct tests on a wide range of chemical/biological substances, explosives, civil and mechanical engineering, meteorology, and other topics. The results of these tests ultimately affect soldiers in all of the United States military services as Dugway routinely hosts diverse military and governmental organizations for tests, as well as conducting its own research. Having updated, accurate knowledge of the latest developments and knowledge in these fields can mean a difference far beyond laboratory structures, i.e., between life or death on the battlefield. To lease a database from a company with a profit motive, or a database that does not provide scholarly articles on the topics and issues needed, will limit our scientists’ ability to provide the knowledge needed for testing. This limitation would be apparent when preparing for tests using the appropriate materials and equipment, carrying out the operations requested in a safe manner, and reviewing and planning for future tests. The lack of knowledge would restrict Dugway’s ability to serve our customers from other military installations and our mission.

What would be the cost impact if an alternate product was procured?

Journal subscriptions are expensive and limited to articles in each issue on specific topics. Web of Science reviews the content of thousands of journals in a single database. If Web of Science is not used, Dugway Proving Ground will not have access to the best selection of authoritative journals it needs. More time will be spent by the test officer and scientist to reach the needed articles. The ease of use allows the user to quickly make decisions on what articles need to be reviewed. We would rather spend a little more on the ease of use than to spend the money clumsily searching for the right document.

If an alternate product was procured that was less extensive than WoS, there would be the potential for the customer to have to travel to and from Salt Lake City, Utah from Dugway (1hr, 45 min each way) to reach a library with the database. WoS’s extensive database would prevent any inabilities to keep up with current developments in the respective scientific fields. It would also eliminate costly issues that could arise and affect tests and research by allowing scientists the ability to foresee these issues through previous research. Previous research and tests contained in the database would also provide awareness to our test teams in Dugway about what our foreign actors are working on as well as if there is any scarcity of materials that are needed for such tests.

The WoS editorial staff that selects and rates journals are experts in their fields and hold advanced degrees. Content covers life, physical, and health sciences, among others, and titles originate from 201 countries and territories. Over 1,200 open access titles (free, scholarly journals) are available in the Core Collection that Dugway would be subscribing to. It has one of the largest citation databases available.

The journals included in this database are creditable and peer-reviewed and can be searched as a compilation from journals, proceedings, books, and datasets. WoS has its own classification system and indexing tools to facilitate searches, in addition to searches using a controlled vocabulary and author keywords. Its journal selections are objective, i.e., unlike some other databases, it has no affiliations so its content does not favor a publisher of a slate of journals. Journals are evaluated on their own merit and their impact factors using several metrics is included.

Citation background allows users to see how many times an article has been cited and to view those citations. Users can filter results by publishing or funding institutions, and see at a glance which contain full text (which can be accessed immediately).

Up to 5K articles can be tagged and saved for future reference or downloaded to a spreadsheet. The history of a topic can be tracked, and filters include narrowing topics by author, institution, publication year, and subject category, among others. Results can be analyzed by funding agencies, titles, countries, subjects, and conferences, which will enable researchers to more easily identify centers of excellence, and potential partners for collaboration or to simply track other scientists doing similar research.

6. Publicizing Contract Actions: For FAR Part 13 actions, the public display and synopsis requirements of FAR

5.101 and FAR 5.203 ☐ do not apply due to the $ threshold, ☒ apply and will be followed, or ☐ do not apply due to an exception at 5.202 ______________________.

7. Market Research: The Dugway Technical Library received lists of research journals most desired from the Chemical and Special Programs Divisions primarily, and looked at selections from the fields of meteorology, microbiology, optics, mechanical/civil engineering, and data science. Searches were then conducted on a number of general science databases: Web of Science, Scopus, two PubMed databases, Biological Sciences, and Science Direct. Google Scholar was also considered for comparison purposes. In addition to the number of journals contained in each database, the search also looked at filtering capabilities and ease of use. Web of Science contained the most journals of interest to Dugway scientists, with 35 more journals than its closest competitor, Scopus. It was also noted that Scopus and Science Direct are affiliated with Elsevier so they would have a publishing interest in promoting sponsored journals, whereas Web of Science is independent. Scopus is also not as user-friendly as Web of Science and it is also newer. While very reputable, it doesn’t have the same lengthy track record yet as Web of Science. PubMed is a useful database, but does not contain all the diverse subject fields needed by Dugway scientists. Google Scholar is too broad in scope, does not allow the filtering needed, and it includes publications that are not peer-reviewed in its results, making searches too time-intensive to be valuable.

8. Other Facts: Web of Science has not been used previously by Dugway Proving Ground on site;

Dugway’s librarian has used it extensively on behalf of its scientists by travelling to a university library in the state. Its value is well known.

9. Technical/Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Submitted by: Grant Price Position Title: Process Improvement Specialist Email Address: grant.d.price.civ@mail.mil

10. Contracting Officer Certification/Approval:

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable based upon price analysis techniques, including a comparison of prices charged to other customers and past procurement history and the IGE.

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that completing this purchase as a sole source is in the best interest of the Government. Additionally, I approve this justification to limit competition subject to the availability of funds and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Paul E. Frailey Contracting Officer