PWS Editor Contract Final Draft 2-2024.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Journal Editor Combating Terrorism Center

Part 1

General Information

1. GENERAL: This is a non-personnel services contract to provide Editing Support for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

1.1 Description of Services/Introduction: The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) is one of the world’s premier research institutions devoted to the study of terrorism and counterterrorism. Its rigorous analysis of terrorism issues is complemented by an interdisciplinary approach which blends theoretical insights, deep religious and cultural understanding, and modern social scientific method to generate practical conclusions for addressing the terrorist threat. One of the critical components of the Center’s research mission is the CTC Sentinel, a monthly journal that is objective, rigorous, relevant, and timely. The contractor, using internal and external research content, shall produce eleven (11) quality editions of the CTC Sentinel per year. The Sentinel editions produced should comport with the style and formatting found in previous editions of the journal.

Each issue will have between 3-5 articles and 1 interview feature. The authors of these articles will be leading scholars, practitioners, or other specialists in their respective fields. The editor will write an editors’ letter to be published in each of the eleven (11) issues of the Sentinel. The editor will develop article ideas and solicit articles. Each article will be focused on terrorism and counterterrorism gap areas or issues and questions of strategic import. The editor will communicate with authors and manage editorial interactions with contributors. The editor will manage issues related to accuracy or editorial standards if and when they arise. The editor will hold to academic journal standards in the counterterrorism (CT) field. Contractor will clearly articulate timelines for gaining feedback from the Managing Editor, Editorial Board, and authors and be sensitive to the availability and other commitments any of those entities have and provide solutions to navigate around those constraints. The workflow process will be determined by the Combating Terrorism Center. The editor should lead at least one editorial meeting per month.

1.2 Objectives: The contractor shall provide support for the Combating Terrorism Center’s Sentinel which is published 11 times a year.

1.2.1 Contract requirements: The contractor is responsible for providing critical support to the editing and production of the CTC Sentinel and research products that advance the CTC’s mission.

1.3 Scope:

1.3.1 The contractor is responsible for performing a variety of research administrative and technical tasks including locating, editing, and producing research content into a monthly journal which will advance the CTC’s mission.

1.4 Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be for one year of 12 months, with 1 option period.

1.5 General Information

1.5.1 Quality Assurance: The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

1.5.2 Recognized Holidays: The Contractor is not required to furnish services during the following holidays:

New Year’s Day Labor Day Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday Columbus Day President’s Day Veteran’s Day Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day Independence Day Christmas Day

1.5.3 Hours of Operation: This will be a firm-fixed-price level of effort contract, with the estimated level of effort to be 1,800 hours. Weekly effort may vary depending on the workload and other factors that will be coordinated with the

COR.

1.5.4 Place of Performance: Work will be performed outside of West Point.

Travel is not required.

1.5.5 Type of Contract: The government will award a firm-fixed-price contract.

1.5.6 Security Requirements:

1.5.6.1 PHYSICAL Security: The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use.

At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

1.5.7 Special Qualifications: In order for contractor personnel to operate on the government LAN, contractor personnel will need to maintain current Information Assurance training and sign an Acceptable Use Policy.

1.5.8 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition

Regulation Subpart 42.5. The contracting officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer will apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government.

1.5.9 Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The (COR) will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract: perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance:

maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract: issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications: monitor Contractor's performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

1.5.10 Key Personnel: The follow personnel are considered key personnel by the government: Editor. In the event the contractor’s employees should require replacement for any reason, no more than ten (10) calendar days will be given to replace that employee with an equally qualified and acceptable individual.

Qualifications for all key personnel are listed below:

1.5.10.1 Qualified contractors:

The contractor must provide support for the CTC Sentinel that meets the following standards:

1.5.10.1.1 Experience editing terrorism books/journals; knowledge of and own access to Adobe InDesign, Google suite (e.g., Sheets, Docs), and Microsoft applications (e.g., Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

1.5.10.1.2 Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate with individuals at various levels within and external to the organization; time management skills for managing multiple tasks simultaneously, while completing work within allocated time frames.

1.5.10.1.3 Proof of prior experience working with terrorism scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Subject matter knowledge/expertise in terrorism, counterterrorism, and specifically Islamic terrorism is preferred.

1.5.10.1.4 Experience producing rigorous academic works on terrorism and terrorist groups for broad audiences.

1.5.10.1.5 Experience with the written work of historical and current members of major terrorist groups around the world.

1.5.11 Identification of Contractor Employees: All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials.

They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed. Contractor personnel will be required to obtain and wear badges in the performance of this service.

1.5.12 Data Rights The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

1.5.13 Organizational Conflict of Interest: Contractor and subcontractor personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to or participate in the development of proprietary or source selection information (e.g., cost or pricing information, budget information or analyses, specifications or work statements, etc.) or perform evaluation services which may create a current or subsequent Organizational Conflict of Interests (OCI) as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer immediately whenever it becomes aware that such access or participation may result in any actual or potential OCI and shall promptly submit a plan to the Contracting Officer to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. The Contractor’s mitigation plan will be determined to be acceptable solely at the discretion of the Contracting Officer and in the event the Contracting Officer unilaterally determines that any such OCI cannot be satisfactorily avoided or mitigated, the Contracting Officer may affect other remedies as he or she deems necessary, including prohibiting the Contractor from participation in subsequent contracted requirements which may be affected by the OCI.

1.5.14 PHASE IN /PHASE OUT PERIOD There will be no formal phase-in period; the learning curve will be based on the individual’s technical background and will be a developmental process. However, if the contractor employee cannot perform at an acceptable level the contractor shall provide a qualified replacement.

PART 2

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS

2. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS:

2.1. DEFINITIONS:

2.1.1. CONTRACTOR. A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

2.1.2. CONTRACTING OFFICER. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

2.1.3. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR). An employee of the U.S. Government appointed by the contracting officer to administer the contract. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall state the scope of authority and limitations. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as that direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change, and has no funding implications. This individual does NOT have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

2.1.4. DEFECTIVE SERVICE. A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with the Performance Work Statement.

2.1.5. DELIVERABLE. Anything that can be physically delivered, but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

2.1.6. KEY PERSONNEL. Contractor personnel that are evaluated in a source selection process and that may be required to be used in the performance of a contract by the Key Personnel listed in the PWS. When key personnel are used as an evaluation factor in best value procurement, an offer can be rejected if it does not have a firm commitment from the persons that are listed in the proposal.

2.1.7. PHYSICAL SECURITY. Actions that prevent the loss or damage of Government property.

2.1.8. QUALITY ASSURANCE. The government procedures to verify that services being performed by the Contractor are performed according to acceptable standards.

2.1.9. QUALITY ASSURANCE Surveillance Plan (QASP). An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

2.1.10. QUALITY CONTROL. All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to assure that the quality of an end product or service shall meet contract requirements.

2.1.11. SUBCONTRACTOR. One that enters into a contract with a prime contractor. The Government does not have privity of contract with the subcontractor.

2.1.12. WORK DAY. The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with the contract.

2.1.12. WORK WEEK. Monday through Friday, unless specified otherwise.

2.2. ACRONYMS:

ACOR Alternate Contracting Officer's Representative AFARS Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement AR

Army Regulation CCE Contracting Center of Excellence CFR Code of Federal Regulations CONUS Continental United States (excludes Alaska and

Hawaii) COR Contracting Officer Representative COTR Contracting Officer's Technical Representative COTS Commercial-Off-the-Shelf DA Department of the Army DD250 Department of Defense Form 250 (Receiving Report) DD254 Department of Defense Contract Security

Requirement List DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement DMDC Defense Manpower Data Center DOD Department of Defense FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 KO Contracting Officer OCI Organizational Conflict of Interest OCONUS Outside Continental United States (includes Alaska and

Hawaii) ODC Other Direct Costs PIPO Phase In/Phase Out

POC Point of Contact PRS Performance Requirements Summary PWS Performance Work Statement QA Quality Assurance QAP Quality Assurance Program QASP Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan QC Quality Control QCP Quality Control Program TE Technical Exhibit

PART 3

SPECIFIC TASKS

3. Specific Tasks:

3.1. The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:

3.1.1. Edit, produce, and publish 11 issues of the CTC Sentinel in a calendar year.

- Each issue will have between 3-5 articles and one interview feature.

- The authors of these articles and interviewee will be leading scholars, practitioners, or other specialists in their respective fields per academic standards in the CT field.

- The contractor will write an editors’ letter which outlines the issue to be published at the front of each of the 11 issues.

- Develop article ideas.

- The contractor will solicit articles from leading scholars, practitioners, or other specialists in fields associated with terrorism and counter terrorism studies.

- The contractor will ensure that each article is focused on terrorism and counterterrorism gap areas or issues and questions of strategic import.

- Communicate with authors and manage editorial interactions with contributors.

- Manage issues related to accuracy or editorial standards if and when they arise.

- The contractor will hold to academic journal standards in the counterterrorism (CT) field.

- Publication of the Sentinel in each month will occur by the last workday in that month (Friday).

- Each edition of the CTC Sentinel will be emailed to the government representative for upload on the ctc.usma.edu website.