Sources Sought Number: HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-22-001

Project Title: Access to Web of Science, EndNote and InCites

This is a “Sources Sought Notice”. It is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts or quotations. The purpose of this notice is for market research purposes and will be used to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform the potential requirement described herein in the statement of work.

STATEMENT OF WORK

PROJECT TITLE:               Access to Web of Science, EndNote and InCites

     I. Statement of Work

A.       Background Information

Clarivate provides access to citation indices including the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), the Conference Proceedings Citation Index, and the Book Citation Index to NIH and HHS research staff through their web-based product Web of Science Core collection. Each year more than a million searches are performed in Web of Science by NIH and HHS users. Incites Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is also available through the Web of Science platform. Citations retrieved in Web of Science are linked to the electronic journal holdings of the NIH Library. Web of Science has allowed the NIH Library to provide enhanced and timely access to information NIH and HHS staff need to perform their work whether they are intramural researchers or extramural program administrators.

In addition to Web of Science, Clarivate also provides enterprise-wide access to EndNote, a robust bibliographic citation management tool, to NIH and HHS research staff. Having an enterprise-wide license reduces cost and administrative effort for NIH. They also provide access to InCites Benchmarking and Analytics, a web-based research evaluation tool that assists staff in measuring the impact of NIH and HHS research.

B.        Objectives

The specific objective of this requirement is to assure continued access to the citation indices on the Web of Science platform, EndNote and InCites. The databases shall include cited references and available author abstracts. Access will be for all staff of NIH, CMS and other HHS agencies served by the HHS digital library. Access to Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and InCites Benchmarking and Analytics shall also be included. The contractor shall also include the option of adding Clarivate research and discovery products.

     II. Services to be performed

A.        General Requirements

1.         Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, materials, equipment, and facilities needed to perform the Statement of Work below.

2.         All work under this contract shall be monitored by the Project Officer.

B.        Specific Requirements

Specifically, the contractor shall:

1. Provide the NIH and the HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library (DLS) access to the Web of Science product, which includes the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), the Conference Proceedings Citation Index, the Book Citation Index, Current Chemical Reactions, Emerging Sources Citation Index, Index Chemicus, BIOSIS Citation Index, Current Contents Connect, Data Citation Index, Derwent Innovations Index, and the Zoological Record. Access to Journal Citation Reports (JCR) shall also be included. Options for including InCites Benchmarking for NIH Library staff only and NIH and HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library should be included.
2. Provide access to a desktop bibliographic management software that that includes 7000 citation styles, allows the creation of customized reference styles, allows users to provide read only access to their citation libraries, provides automatic reference and linking updates, allows users to view the activity of their collaborators in shared libraries and matches papers with relevant journals.
3. The contractor at a minimum shall update the contents of the databases weekly. Journal Citation Reports (JCR) shall be updated annually.
4. The contractor shall provide NIH with open-URL enabled software to allow third-party linking from the citations in the databases to electronic versions of NIH Library subscribed documents or to document delivery services using products such as Primo. Staff from NIH and HHS shall be taken to a view of the databases on Web of Science that includes only the link to their agency library.
5. The contractor also shall provide options for acquiring other Clarivate products, including but not limited to Converis, Cortellis, Cortellis Data Feeds and APIs,  Drugs of Today, DRG Healthbase, Derwent Innovation, Derwent Datafeeds and APIs, Metabase, Web of Science Reviewer Locator, Web of Science Datafeeds and APIs, InCites Benchmarking and Analytics and Metacore Key Pathway advisor.
6. The contractor shall provide options for a process and outcome evaluation of the CPTAC program.
7. The contractor may also provide options to include all Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies with access to the same resources as identified in this contract. 
8. The contractor shall provide an option for DLS to add new resources as the contractor adds to its holdings through acquisition or publication of a new resource. The contractor also shall provide an option for DLS to cancel selected resources should its funding be reduced.
9. The contractor shall provide API access to the databases for NIH and HHS Digital Library users. The proposal should include detailed information on the type and terms of API access to be provided.
10. The contractor will upgrade the web platform as needed to enhance or improve the functionality of the platform at no additional cost.
11. Staff of NIH and HHS agencies shall be allowed to scan and search the database and print or download the results of their searches for their personal and work-related use. These searches may be either a repetitive scanning of all or portions of the database for regular updates using one or more terms, or may be one-time, non-repetitive, online interactive searches of all or part of the databases. Among the various search capabilities offered by the contractor, cited reference searching is required. The ability to create visualizations of author impact from cited references is also required.
12. The contractor shall provide maintenance service in the form of periodic software updates and technical help support as part of the base price for the database and interface. Technical help support shall be available Monday through Friday during normal business hours.
13. The contractor shall also provide documentation and training materials as appropriate. Training material may be modified to suit the needs of NIH and HHS agencies.

C.        Government Responsibilities

1. The Government will be responsible for providing an interface via web links for the NIH community to access the Web of Science website.
2. NIH will be responsible for creating a system to validate security for entrance into the website.
3. Upon signature by the Government, the contractor license agreement will be incorporated into the contract. A copy of the license shall be included in the proposal.

D.         Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

1. The contractor shall regularly provide the Project Officer with monthly aggregated use data for databases, complying with industry standards such as COUNTER and SUSHI. Reports shall be available within 30 days of the end of the month that is the subject of the report.
2. Monthly usage data shall be broken out separately for NIH and for the individual HHS agencies served by the NIH Library/DLS. 
3. The contractor shall provide download statistics for EndNote and other subscribed Clarivate software tools twice a year. An example of the report should be provided with the proposal.
4. The contractor shall assure the web platform and databases are available 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year with unscheduled downtime rate not to exceed 1%. Notification of scheduled downtime shall be provided one week in advance at a minimum and will be scheduled in low use periods—between midnight and 6:00 am EST Monday through Friday or 6:00 pm and 6:00 am EST on weekends.

Anticipated Period of Performance:

The period of performance is expected to be for one 12 months base period and four twelve-month option periods. The contract is anticipated to be from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

Other Important Considerations:

The following product characteristics will be considered:

• Search interface that includes numerous primary categories and ability to perform keyword and other specialized topical queries for effective searches.
• Enable users to create user accounts to establish alerts and save searches.
• Provide access to Science Citation Index (SCI) or similar databases
• Subscription is able to provide access to multiple users via IP address (multi-user, multi-campus subscription).
• Indexes eJournals dating back several decades.
• Multiple language translations of content.

Submission of Capability Statements and Delivery Instructions:

In 15 pages or less any interested business organization should submit a capability statement of their organization which demonstrates their ability to supply the services described above OR provide a capability statement that demonstrate how other potential databases can meet the requirement described above.

Respondents should also include any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the acquisitions requirements. The NAICS Code for this requirement is 519130 with a business size of 500 employees.

Responses must reference the sources sought number HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-22-001 and include the following: (1) Name and Address of the organization (2) Size and Type of business, pursuant to the applicable NAICS code 519130. (3) Point of Contact with name, title, phone, fax and email (4) DUNS number (5) Contractor’s capability statement should address the deliverables in the statement of work and the important consideration mentioned above (6) List of organizations to whom similar types of services have been previously provided to include contract number, dollar value, name and phone number of contracting officer.

ALL INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUCEMENTMUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE OF: October 26,2021. AT 11 A.M. EST.

Emailed responses are the only authorized responses (either in Microsoft word or PDF), but it is up to the vendor to ensure that the email is received by the government. Responses by Facsimile (FAX) will not be accepted. All questions and/or comments must be in writing and may be emailed to O. Joy Ajao at [email protected].

Disclaimer and Important Notes:

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response to this announcement. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality:

No proprietary, classified, confidential or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).