R612--Special Notice: Intent to Sole Source | Health Outcomes Military Exposures (HOME) for Data Citation Index (Clarivate)

This intent to sole source announcement is posted in accordance with FAR 5.2 - Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions.

Background -

The mission of the Department of Veterans Administration (VA) is to honor America s Veterans by providing exceptional care that improves their health and well-being. The Health Outcomes Military Exposures (HOME) Program Office is a division within the Office of Patient Care Services, Veterans Health Administration (VHA). HOME governs congressionally mandated programs related to environmental, occupational, and garrison exposures that may have affected U.S. Veterans and some family members during military service.

HOME conducts surveillance and studies Veterans health and health care outcomes. Findings

from these research studies inform clinical care provided by health professionals and provide

sound science for decisions from policymakers, including VA and Congress. This research improves health care best practices and policy decisions regarding Veterans benefits. HOME subject matter experts continuously review current scientific literature and provide data to develop policy recommendations for the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (SECVA).

Subscription to Data Citation Index is essential to complete this mission. The HOME Librarians search the scientific literature to include, but not limited to human, toxicological, animal, and methodological studies, etc., for Presumptive Decision Process (PDP) Scientific Reviews and Literature Search Requests. Section 202, in P.L. 117-168, Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, created new provisions in regarding determinations related to presumptions of service connection based on toxic exposure. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is required to improve the presumptive decision process to assess the available scientific data in as timely a fashion as possible and enhance the transparency of the process.

Objective

The Contractor shall provide the resources necessary to accomplish the tasks as described in the Statement of Work (SOW) (See attached copy of SOW).

Unique Qualifications

Data Citation Index (Clarivate) is specialized citation index for searching datasets. As of summer 2023, it contains around 13 million datasets with links to source data and associated papers. Data Citation Index (Clarivate)Â includes bibliographic metadata from research data in Data Studies and Data Sets from a wide range of international data repositories. Source records include three document types: Repository, Data Study, and Data Set.

Data Citation Index (Clarivate) will allow all HOME staff to access research data sets and data studies from a wide range of international data repositories in the physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. All HOME staff will have access to research and data with coverage from 1900-present, with some datasets predating 1900.

Data Citation Index (Clarivate) capabilities include:

Comprehensive user search interface: one-click search on authors, group authors, editors, and source repositories to view all records in the database by selected item.

Comprehensive scope of coverage; research data connected to articles in published journals, books, and conference proceedings.

Abstracting and indexing of all relevant literature and data sets

Immediate access to data through direct links to international data repositories for easy access to deposited data sets.

Comprehensive records: records containing standard bibliographic metadata such as author, abstract, keywords, descriptor terms, and more. Records may include cited references and citing article counts.

Award information -

Solicitation No. 36C24525Q0117 will be presented to the contractor in accordance with the sole source authority at FAR 6.302-1 as a firm fixed-price contract. The Government anticipates the solicitation response and Independent Cost Estimate to be comparable with similar database access contracts, Contract No. 36C77623P0129 and Contract No. 36C77622C0021 to justify fair and reasonable pricing. The period of performance shall be for one base year period and three, one-year optional periods. Option ordering periods are exercised as required and are not guaranteed. The anticipated Period of Performance reads as follows:

Base Period (Est. Award date): 12/01/2024 11/30/2025

Est. Option Period 1: 12/01/2025 11/30/2026

Est. Option Period 2: 12/01/2026 11/30/2027

Est. Option Period 3: 12/01/2027 11/30/2028

If anyone requests additional information please contact: Ethan Mauzy Ethan.Mauzy@va.gov.