Springer Nature Online Resources

COMPETITIVE

COMBINED SYNOPSIS / SOLICITATION

Title:   Springer Nature Online Resources

 (i)        This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(ii)        The solicitation number is 75N98027Q00065 and the solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

This acquisition is for a commercial item or service and is conducted under the authority of FAR Part 12—Acquisition of Commercial Items, and is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

(iii)       The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) Number 2026-01, with effective date March 13, 2026.

(iv)       The associated NAICS code 519130 and the small business size standard is $47M.

(v)        This requirement is for the following services:

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall:

• Provide the NIH and the HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library (DLS) access to the electronic version of select Springer Nature journals, purchased Springer eBook collections, and subscribed databases such as Springer Protocols through its web interface.  Access will be cumulative for articles published in the journals since 1997 (for Springer journal titles) or 2007 (for Nature journal titles) or the first year a journal was offered on the Springer Nature platform, based upon previous investments.
• Provide options for acquiring eBooks, online reference works, backfiles of selected journals, databases, and Content on Demand (COD) tokens. Options should factor in all previous investments subscriptions, as well as previous archive backfile purchases.
• Provide options for supporting open access publishing, including transformative agreements. The contractor shall also provide an option for DLS to withdraw from these agreements should its funding be reduced.
• Provide options to include all Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies with access to the same resources as identified in this contract.  The contractor shall provide options for including existing subscriptions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Provide an option for DLS to add new titles as the contractor adds to its holdings through acquisition or publication of a new title. The contractor also shall provide an option for DLS to cancel selected journal titles should its funding be reduced.
• NIH may fulfill interlibrary loan requests in accord with Section 108 of the United States Copyright Law (17 USC Sec. 108, “Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives”) and clause 3 of the Guidelines for the Proviso of Subsection 108(g)(2) prepared by the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works.
• NIH shall retain perpetual access to all subscribed years of resources.
• The contractor shall agree to the incorporation of all license agreements into the contract.

Additional details are located in Attachment 1: Statement of Work.

(vi)       The purpose of this acquisition is to procure access to the Springer Nature Group online resources to provide NIH staff with access to electronic versions of select Springer Nature journals, books, and databases.

(vii)      The Government anticipates award of a firm fixed-price purchase order for this acquisition, and the anticipated period of performance is twelve (12) months with the potential for four (4) 12-month option periods as follows:

            Base Year:      January 1, 2027 – December 31, 2027

Option Year 1: January 1, 2028 – December 31, 2028

Option Year 2: January 1, 2029 – December 31, 2029

Option Year 3: January 1, 2030 – December 31, 2030

Option Year 4: January 1, 2031 – December 31, 2031

(viii)     The provision at FAR 52.252-1, Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at these addresses:  https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far   https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html   
 

(End of provision)

The following provisions apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-7, System for Award Management (Nov 2024)
• FAR 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting (Aug 2020)
• FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023)
• FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Products and Commercial Services (May 2024)
• FAR 52.222-22, Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports (Feb 1999)
• HHSAR 352.239-73, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice (December 18, 2015)

The clause at FAR 52.252-2, Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998), applies to this acquisition. This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses:

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far     https://www.hhs.gov/grants/contracts/contract-policies-regulations/hhsar/index.html  

(End of clause)

The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference:

• FAR 52.204-13, System for Award Management Maintenance (Oct 2018)
• FAR 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance (Aug 2020)
• FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Nov 2023). Addendum to this FAR clause applies to this acquisition and is attached.
• FAR 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000). Fill Ins: 15 days, 30 days
• FAR 52.245-1, Government Property (Sep 2021)
• HHSAR 352.222-70, Contractor Cooperation in Equal Employment Opportunity Investigations (December 18, 2015)
• HHSAR 352.239-74, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility (December 18, 2015)

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are attached in full text.  Offerors MUST complete the provisions at 52.204-24 and 52.204-26 and submit completed copies as separate documents with their proposal.

• FAR 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment (Nov 2021)
• FAR 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services-Representation (Oct 2020)
• FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items (Nov 2024)
• Information Security and/or Physical Access Security Language
• NIH Invoice and Payment Provisions

(ix)       The provision at FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Items (Nov 2021), applies to this acquisition. 

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) technical capability of the service offered to meet the Government requirement; (ii) past performance [see FAR 13.106-2(b)(3)]; and (iii) price.

Technical and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than cost or price.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(x)        Offerors must include a completed copy of the provision at FAR clause 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Sep 2023), with its offer. If the offeror has completed FAR clause 52.212-3 at www.sam.gov, then the offeror does not need to provide a completed copy with its offer.

(xi)       The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) are not applicable to this requirement.

(xii)      Responses to this solicitation must include clear and convincing evidence of the offeror’s capability of fulfilling the requirement as it relates to the technical evaluation criteria. The price proposal must include the labor categories, an estimate of the number of hours required for each labor category, fully loaded fixed hourly rate or each labor category, breakdown and rationale for other direct costs or materials, and the total amount.

The Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.

All quotations must be received by 9:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, on November 25th, 2026 and reference Solicitation Number 75N98027Q00065. Responses must be submitted electronically to Kevin Alvarez, Contracting Officer, at kevin.alvarez@nih.gov

Fax responses will not be accepted.

             

              Attachments:

1. Statement of Work
2. Instructions to Offerors/Evaluation Factors