Taylor & Francis Group - 1. 26. 26 - Sole Source

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), located within Lee County and Fort Lauderdale City jurisdictions, is procuring a customized journal package directly from Taylor & Francis Group through a sole source procurement process. The procurement encompasses access to 2,469 academic journals with back file holdings extending from 1997 to the current year, serving the library patrons of FGCU's Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and Medical/Health Services programs. The deliverables include full-text content access through the library's website, enabling students and faculty to conduct academic research and pursue scholarly objectives. The university justifies this sole source acquisition based on the package's customization for FGCU's specific institutional needs, the unavailability of this particular configuration from alternative providers, and demonstrated high utilization evidenced by 19,582 article downloads during the 2025 academic year. The contract period extends through 2028, with a posting date of January 26, 2026, and a due date of January 28, 2026. The sole source certification was publicly posted for the required minimum of 48 business hours, allowing prospective suppliers a 48-business-hour window to provide information regarding their ability to supply equivalent products or services. No competitive bidding was conducted because this specific customized package configuration is exclusively available through Taylor & Francis as the sole publisher and distributor.

This procurement is designated as a sole source acquisition, which restricts competitive responses and authorization for direct purchase without bidding procedures. Taylor & Francis Group is identified as the incumbent vendor and sole provider of the customized journal package, holding all copyright privileges and distribution rights for the Social Science and Humanities Library Collection, Science and Technology Library Collection, and Medical Library Collection. The three-year contract carries an annual cost structure with capped subscription prices of $74,394 for 2026, $75,882 for 2027, and $78,159 for 2028, representing a total contract value of $228,435 over the performance period. The negotiated discounted pricing yields cumulative savings of $130,968 compared to projected list prices of $112,892, $119,666, and $126,845 respectively, with annual price increases capped at 1.00%, 2.00%, and 3.00% across the contract years. The procurement does not specify set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or other designated business classifications, as the sole source designation and exclusive product availability preclude such considerations.