I would suggest joining forces with economic historians in the "battle" with SSCI, as the dropping of HOPE may be only the first step in removing other journals from the SSCI, i.e. from subdisciplines that do not have a publication outlet in the "core" economics journals. I can say that from my experience as a part of the editorial team at the European Journal of Political Economy, that there are also other issues involved when the publishers of SSCI drop you, or do not include you in SSCI. Perhaps Duke University Press should also join the "battle" accordingly... Warren Young