Document Number: F24-N24-011

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

1. Identification of Agency and Contracting Activity.

Agency Name and Address:

Nimitz Library 589 McNair Rd.
The United States Naval Academy (USNA) Annapolis, MD21401

Contracting Activity Name and Address:

NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk (FLCN) Contracting Department, Code 200
Norfolk, Virginia 23511

2. Description of the Action Being Approved. This is a sole source action for the requisition for
Elsevier B.V.’s online journal collection Science Direct and the Scopus Citation Index to the Nimitz
Library, United States Naval Academy, the journal subscriptions include Computers & Security, Deep-
Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers with Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanograph,
Estuarine, Costal and Shelf science, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Journal of Number
Theory, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Materials Science And Engineering: A, Ocean Engineering, Ocean
Modelling, The leadership Quarterly and Scopus Citation Index. Elsevier B.V. is the official publisher
of the Science Direct Journals as listed below, and there are no other vendors for Elsevier B.V.’s
electronic journal subscriptions. United States Naval Academy (USNA) has maintained subscriptions
with Elsevier B.V. for multiple years.

The placement of a commercial firm-fixed-price purchase order is anticipated. This contract is a new
contract continuing USNA access to Elsevier’s Science Direct under the prior purchase orders
N0018920P0255 and N0018920P0077, plus The Scopus Citation Index totaling up to (11) eleven
combined journal subscriptions. Elsevier fills a unique existing niche for education and research. Failure
to renew the resource would lead to a critical lack of data that USNA’s engineering, math, and science
students rely on, and that faculty depend on for education planning, curriculum creation, lesson
planning, and student research. Losing access to Elsevier B.V. journal subscriptions could cause a
negative impact to multiple departments at USNA for a prolonged period of time.

Contract N0018920P0255 was awarded on 12 April 2020 on a sole source basis as a firm fixed-price
contract to Elsevier B.V. for (8) eight journal subscriptions; the existing contract expires on 31
December 2023. N0018920P0077 was awarded as a Sole Source, Commercial Firm-Fixed-Price
Purchase Order on 1 January 2020; (2) journal subscriptions are on the existing contract and expires on
31 December 2023.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

The proposed acquisition is a renewal of yearly subscriptions. It is intended to acquire the following
Science Direct Journals:

Item Supply Items Quantity Base Unit Price

NO.
0001 Computers & Security 1 $3,346.42
0002 Deep Sea Research I and Deep Sea 1 $10,194.51
Research II

0003 Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf 1 $8,544.99

Science

0004 International Journal of Heat and 1 $20,055.35

Mass Transfer

0005 Journal of Number Theory 1 $2,102.84

0006 Marine Pollution Bulletin 1 $6,881.51

0007 Materials Science and Engineering: 1 $21,411.60

A

0008 Ocean Engineering 1 $9,645.00

0009 Ocean Modeling 1 $1,901.82

0010 The Leadership Quarterly 1 $1,466.69

0011 The Scopus Citation Index 1 $35,000.00

Total $120,550.73

Date of Delivery: 1 January 2024

Elsevier B.V. is the sole provider and trademark/copyright holder of these products and they cannot be
purchased in such a package elsewhere from other vendors. Elsevier B.V. does not permit resale of its
intellectual property or any 3rd parties as intermediaries. All purchases must be direct with Elsevier
Group, here Elsevier B.V., specifically.

These particular journals and products are relied upon by Midshipmen and USNA Faculty for their
research and work. These are needed for curriculum designs, course assignments, faculty and
midshipmen research and are required for accreditation of our academic programs. The contents and
articles presented are unique to Elsevier B.V. The anticipated period of performance is for one (1) base
period of twelve (12) months, and four (4) option periods of 12 months each, which will consist of the
subscription periods.

Estimated Dollar Value

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

 Period Performance Dates Estimate
Base 01 Jan 2024 – 31 Dec 2024 $120,550.73
Option 1 01 Jan 2025 – 31 Dec 2025 $124,945.01
Option 2 01 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2026 $129,500.08
Option 3 01 Jan 2027 – 31 Dec 2027 $134,221.63
Option 4 01 Jan 2028 – 31 Dec 2028 $138,116.43
Subtotal $648,333.87

The resultant purchase order will be funded with FY24 Navy Operations & Maintenance (O&MN)
appropriations. These funds are currently available. Options will be funded utilizing appropriation
(O&MN) of the fiscal year in which the option year is exercised.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Sole Source.

41 U.S.C. §1901(e)(2), Special Rules for Commercial Products and Commercial Services, is the
statutory authority permitting this sole source action after the need for it is justified in writing and
approved as appropriate. The simplified acquisition procedures for the acquisition of sole source
commercial items is implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

This authority applies to the proposed procurement based on the market research applied to this
procurement. Market research showed that Elsevier B.V. appears to be the only Journal Title
Subscription Service provider that meets all specifications set forth in the Statement of Work (SOW).

These journal subscriptions to Elsever B.V is a direct continuation of the previous yearly purchases,
which will be a vital and relied upon by USNA Math and Science Department. The current
procurements were separated into two (2) Purchase Orders N0018920P0077 and N0018920P0255 using
the journal subscriptions Computers & Security, Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research
Papers with Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanograph, Estuarine, Costal and Shelf science, International
Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Journal of Number Theory, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Materials
Science And Engineering: A, Ocean Engineering, Ocean Modelling, and The leadership Quarterly.
USNA would like to add an additional subscription the Scopus Citation Index bring the total
subscriptions from (10) ten to (11) eleven.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable, including a
Description of Market Research, if applicable, and a List of Interested Sources, if any.

A Sources Sought notice (SSN) was posted to beta. SAM on 25 October 2023 at 11:00 am ETD with
response date of 6 November 2023 by 10:00 am ETD. The SSN requested interested vendors provide
capability statements, describing the vendors’ capacity to perform the type of work, describe past
performance efforts with similar scope to the proposed requirements, and documentation of technical
expertise in sufficient detail for the Government to determine that the company possesses the necessary
functional area of expertise and experience to compete for this acquisition, as specified in the SOW.

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

There were NO vendors who responded to the Sources Sought Notice (SSN) with their business size
under NAICS 513199, which was specified as the NAICS code on SAM.gov.

Market Research has shown that Elsevier B.V. Journal Subscriptions is the only known source capable
of providing the required services. This result is based on research revealing that other USNA Nimitz
Library subscription services are also retaining similar service through parallel arrangements with
Elsevier B.V. Only the awardee can be signatory on bi-lateral license and terms & conditions
agreements.

This is a renewal of a contract for journals already purchased by the Nimitz Library for decades and they
are essential to the Library’s ability to provide access to these journals to USNA Midshipmen and
Faculty regarding mission.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated price to the Government of the
supplies/services covered by this Justification will be fair and reasonable.

Item Supply Items QT Base Unit Current PO’s, $Delta %Delta

NO. Price N0018920P0077 &
N0018920P0255
0001 Computers & 1 $3,346.42 $2,595.10 $751.32 25%
Security
0002 Deep Sea 1 $10,194.51 $13,596.30 -$3401.79 -29%
Research I and
Deep Sea
Research II

0003 Estuarine, 1 $8,544.99 $7,518.08 $1,026.91 13%

Coastal, and
Shelf Science

0004 International 1 $20,055.35 $17,342.84 $271.51 15%

Journal of
Heat and Mass
Transfer

0005 Journal of 1 $2,102.84 $2,711.75 -$608.91 -25%

Number
Theory

0006 Marine 1 $6,881.51 $3,776.75 $3,104.76 59%

Pollution
Bulletin

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104

 0007 Materials 1 $21,411.60 $18,780.43 $2,631.17 13%
Science and
Engineering: A

0008 Ocean 1 $9,645.00 $8,111.69 $1533.31 17%

Engineering

0009 Ocean 1 $1,901.82 $1,875.09 $26.73 2%

Modeling

0010 The 1 $1,466.69 $1,630.59 -$163.90 -11%

Leadership
Quarterly

0011 The Scopus 1 $35,000.00

Citation Index

Total $120,550.73 77,938.68 10%

CLINs 0002 and 0006 are based off N0018920P0077 and CLINs 000, 0003,0004,0005,0007,0008,
0009, 0010 are based off N0018920P0255. CLIN 0011 for Scopus Citation Index will be an additional
new CLIN.

Basis on determining prior price reasonableness by researching current Purchase Orders pricing for the
identical subscriptions. There are (3) three subscriptions that are decreased in price from 11%, 25% and
29% decrease in cost. The price ranges that increased were anywhere from 2% to 59%, although there
were some increases the current purchase orders for Journal Subscriptions once combined is $77,933.68
this is not including the new subscription for Scopus, the follow-on requirement would be totaled at
$85,550.73. The total price would be an overall 10% increase for the new renewal of Journal Title
Subscriptions with an additional subscription to Scopus for $35,000.00.

USNA requires a Journal Title Subscription System for managing print, electronic, and digital resources.
The United States Naval Academy is combining two current requirements for a renewal subscription of
(10) ten journal subscriptions and (1) new journal subscription to Scopus Citation Index trademarks of
Elsevier B.V. Elsevier B.V. is the sole owner of their Intellectual Property and offers direct sale only.
They do not permit 3rd party retailers.

Scopus’ functional algorithms are proprietary. Scopus has a depth and breadth of content inclusive to its
subscription that is not found with the competitor product, including access across major disciplines, to
global research, as well as to peer-reviewed citations for open access and preprint content. CiteScore
metrics, which measure the impact of an academic journal are included with the subscription and unique
to this product. Additionally, the methodology for retrieving citation metrics at the author-level is a
feature which ease of use for faculty and midshipmen is unique to the Scopus product.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

In accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)), a sources sought notice was issued on 25 October
2023 at 11:00 am ETD with response date closing on November 06, 2023 at 10:00 am ETD. To date, no
other sources expressed an interest in the requirement. Furthermore, market research has determined that
Elsevier B.V. can meet the government’s minimum needs. For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 6,
Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104
NAVSUP FLCN has no plans at this time to compete future contacts for the types of supplies/services
covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, NAVSUP FLCN will assess whether
competition for future requirements is feasible.

Due to the conditions and commitment stated in paragraph 6 and retail restrictions stated in paragraph 4,
future open competition is not anticipated.

9. Contracting Point of Contact. The point of contact at NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk,
Contracting Specialist is Deborah Brett, Code 220.1, at DSN 646-1380, commercial 757-443-1348, or
by e-mail at deborah.d.brett.civ@us.navy.mil.

Source Selection Information – See FAR 2.101 and 3.104