THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Vendors that believe they can provide the services listed above are invited to submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact. This procurement will be processed pursuant to FAR Part 12 and Part 13.5. No solicitation will be issued. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. Responses are to be received within 2 days of this notice. No telephone calls are being accepted. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), intends to negotiate and award on a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) basis. A purchase order will be one-year firm fixed price awarded to Turnitin LLC for iThenticate; iThenticate is a subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. The service bundle known as plagiarism detection service, incorporates all aspects of the requirement. The anticipated date of award will be no later than 08.15.2019. iThenicate was the only solution that met all requirements. Other solutions in the market place are geared for undergrad and grad-level assignments and do have sufficient STEM literature coverage to meet the needs of the ARS scientific research output. iThenticate®, including its associated components, is a single source product developed and sold by Turnitin, LLC. The product is a unique service that is not offered by any other vendor or reseller in a similar format. The product may be procured only from Turnitin, LLC. No other source or competitor may legally modify or change the software nor would have access to the code to do so.

Bid Protests Not Available