National Library of Medicine, Office of Acquisitions Management, Building 38A, Room B1N17, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894

B -- PROFESSIONAL SERVICE POC Liem T. Nguyen, 301-496-6546 WEB: Loren Data Corp.'s Home Page, http://www.ld.com. E-MAIL: Liem Nguyen, liem_nguyen@ccmail.nlm.nih.gov. Description of Acquisition or Award: It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to negotiate on a sole source basis with the American College of Physicians (ACP). The purpose of this solicitation is to determine whether the use of the QUOROM guidelines improves the reporting of meta-analyses in the Annals of Internal Medicine and other U.S. medical journals. The contractor shall be responsible for: (1) managing U.S. participation in a controlled trial of the impact of use of the guidelines on the quality of reports of meta-analyses submitted to the journals; (2) collecting and analyzing U.S. data from the trial in a manner consistent with data being collected in other countries; and (3) preparing a report of the U.S. results, with recommendations for improving the guidelines as appropriate. NLM intends to negotiate on a sole-source basis pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 and 42 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) with ACP for a fixed-price type of purchase order to conduct a randomized controlled trial of the QUOROM guidelines on U.S. medical journals. ACP has exclusive access to the unpublished meta-analysis manuscripts submitted to the Annals of Internal Medicine that will form the core of the U.S. data set for the QUOROM trial. The College has the influence essential to enlisting the cooperation of its prospective authors in testing the QUOROM guidelines. ACP also has the prestige and reputation that will ensure participation and compliance with the protocol for testing the QUOROM guidelines by other U.S. medical journals. NLM has determined that ACP is the only vendor capable of providing the necessary services. This notice of intent is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Award to ACP without full and open competition is planned. (0007)

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