R605--Science Direct Journals 36C77626Q0037

Science Direct eJournals FBO Notice: 36C77626Q0037 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Central Office (VACO) Library requires an existing, commercial, off-the-shelf, web-based electronic subscription to Science Direct eJournals subscription which will be made available to all VACO Library staff and employees. VHA s goal is to ensure uniform availability to a subscription-based collection of high quality, clinical, full text electronic journals across the VHA system to improve clinical decision making at the point of care. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures for Commercial Items. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC) intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price sole source supply contract to Cox Subscriptions, Inc. Science Direct eJournals contains unique content and functionality that is unduplicated by any other vendor. Cox Subscriptions, Inc is the sole source for Science Direct data. All licensing and web-based access for Science Direct is only through Cox Subscriptions, Inc and under its licensing terms. As such, this requirement will be awarded on a sole-source basis IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i) Soliciting from a single source (exclusive licensing agreements). The NAICS code for this procurement is 519290 and the Small Business Administration Size Standard is 1,000 Employees. Posting date of this requirement is December 1, 2025. A determination by the Government not to compete with this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement no later than 11:00AM Central Standard Time, December 3, 2025. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition will be advantageous to the Government. This is not a Request for Quote. This is a written notice to inform the public of the Governments intent to award on a sole source basis the required services. However, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirements may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses received to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted to this procurements contract specialist Shaun C. Pitts; Shaun.Pitts@va.gov. NLT 11:00AM Central Standard Time, December 3, 2025. Telephone requests will not be accepted. Contracting Office Address: Department of Veterans Affairs Program Contracting Activity Central 6100 Oak Tree Blvd, Suite 490 Independence, OH 44131 Statement of Work Science Direct eJournals Performance Period: Base year (1/1/26-12-31-26), plus 4 option years Type of Contract: Firm Fixed Price. Place of Performance: Not Applicable Product Description: The requirements of the electronic journal collection are as follows: Access shall be granted through IP address validation on an enterprise basis, eliminating the need for users to enter identification, username and/or password. An unrestricted number of simultaneous users shall have immediate access from any web-enabled computer within VA. It is required that all authorized remote users with VPN access have access to the product. Journals shall be maintained with the most current issues available with no embargo period All site content and support of the web site shall be the responsibility of the contractor. This includes tech support to VA users nationwide. System downtime shall be minimal and VA project manager shall be notified when such occurs. Single point of contact for customer service issues shall be assigned to VA Usage statistics shall be available to the system administrator on an enterprise level. The product shall be accessible via a variety of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) platforms including the Android and Apple. Product shall be 508 Compliant Journal titles must come from Science Direct Journal List: CHEST Journal Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC)

VHAPG Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT Unique characteristics that limit availability to only one source, with the reason no other supplies or services can be used: Elsevier (the Parent Company of ScienceDirect) requires a special set of terms and conditions as a part of the contract. The journals CHEST and Journal of the American College of Cardiology are the proprietary intellectual property of Elsevier/ScienceDirect. Only WT Cox (dba Cox) Subscriptions, an authorized reseller for these journals, can assume legal responsibility for the special set of terms and conditions required by Elsevier. Description of market research conducted and results or statement why it was not conducted: There is no reasonable expectation that the VA Rule of Two could be met; even though there were 3,322 organizations identified using NAICS code 519290 as search criteria in the SBA database. The reason, as stated by Elsevier (see P02.1 Publisher Confirmation of Authorized Reseller), Cox Subscriptions, Inc. is the sole distributor for Science Direct Journals. A request for information (RFI) would not yield any authorized SDVOSB/VOSB distributors. Contracting Officer's Certification: Purchase is approved in accordance with FAR13.106-1(b). I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. ____________________________ ________________________ Date Contracting Officer Revision: 01 Effective Date: 11/15/2024 Page 2 of 2 Acquisition ID#