Freewheelin’ Swedish scientists sneak Bob Dylan lyrics into scholarly articles

How does it feel to reference your favorite musician in the title of a scholarly paper? A group of scientists in Sweden should be able to tell you. The men have been competing to see who can include the most Bob Dylan lyrics in their writing.

It began innocently enough with an article about intestinal gasses. The authors, John Jundberg and Eddie Weitzberg, professors at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, titled the piece “Nitric Oxide and inflammation: The answer is blowing in the wind,” in homage to their favorite singer/songwriter. Without thinking twice, the pair began incorporating Dylan lyrics and song titles into more of their work.

They never quoted Dylan in scientific papers. “We could have got in trouble for that,” Weitzberg told the Local. But when writing about the research of others, in articles, book introductions and editorials, the two unleashed a hurricane of Dylan references upon the unsuspecting scientific community.

Through a simple twist of fate, a librarian noticed an article written by two other medical professors, also from the Karolinska Institute, that had both a Dylan song and an album name tangled up in its title. The librarian introduced the four colleagues to one another, and they soon entered into a competition, which one other professor has since joined, to see who can incorporate the most Dylan lyrics into their work before retirement. The winner will be treated to lunch at a local restaurant

These five are obviously believers in the notion that scholarly writing does not have to be dry, but Weitzberg insists that they are not the only ones in academia who are prone to playfulness.

“If you read other scientific articles you’ll find people trying to be clever in different ways,” he says. “I would much rather become famous for my scientific work,” he admits, “But yes, I am enjoying this!”