Freewheelin’ scientists: citing Bob Dylan in the biomedical literature
BMJ 2015; 351 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h6505 (Published 14 December 2015) Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h6505
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We are delighted to note that our contribution to the most recent Christmas Issue [1] has met with some approval. Dr. Goodman, who previously published a retrospective survey on a very similar topic [2], suggests that the exponential increase in Dylan citing articles in PubMed might not be exponential after all and could, instead, scale with the increasing number of indexed papers overall. We appreciate this remark. However, when we compared the occurrence of Dylan citing papers and the total number of papers in Medline per year we found that the increasing number of Dylan citing papers witnessed in the last 25 years [1] could not be explained solely by the general increase in the number of published papers.
Still, the question is whether scientists are actually citing or quoting Dylan, or, as Goodman puts it, whether such song titles are merely allusions [2]? We tend to agree with Altman, who raised the question in his commentary, that there is some degree of confusion. Indeed, the lyrics of Bob Dylan are used in different ways in the biomedical literature: in many cases, as ordinary quotes, but sometimes the lyrics are paraphrased, as pointed out in our analysis [1], and in some cases, albeit less commonly so, one may find actual citations of Bob Dylan [3].
For the record (pun intended), the lyrics cited in this response are from the song “Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)” from Bob Dylan’s album Slow Train Coming, released in 1979.
[1] Gornitzki C, Larsson A, Fadeel B, 2015. Freewheelin’ scientists: citing Bob Dylan in the biomedical literature. BMJ 351:h6505.
[2] Goodman NW. From Shakespeare to Star Trek and beyond: a Medline search for literary and other allusions in biomedical titles. BMJ 2005;331:1540-2.
[3] Winck JC. The editor and Bob Dylan. I say: farewell. He sings I shall be released… Rev Port Pneumol. 2013;19(2):51-2.
Competing interests: No competing interests
I enjoyed reading about Dylan song titles smuggled into academic article titles. I’m surprised, though, that the article makes repeated references to authors citing Dylan. Surely they mean that those authors quoted Dylan. A proper citation tells you where the quoted text comes from; an unattributed quotation is not a citation. The authors’ additional use of the term citation in the correct sense when considering the impact of published articles adds to the confusion. In fact, Web of Science lists many somewhat chaotic references of actual citations of Bob Dylan.
Competing interests: No competing interests
I would not want to put Ger Rijkers off from his comparative analysis of Dylan vs The Beatles [1], but when I looked at allusory titles in 2005 [2] I could find no allusions to Beatles’ titles, although I have not kept a record of which titles I searched on. I think he will find that most titles containing the words “strawberry” and “fields” are about fields of strawberries. I did not think of looking at Dylan titles.
Carl Gornitzki and colleagues remark that the number of Dylan articles has increased exponentially, and I think they are correct to suppose that one reason is that “More and more journal articles are published each year”. That is why, in the Shakespeare article and similar articles that I’ve written on the prevalence of words in PubMed® I have always scaled the number of articles to the index year or years. If Gornitzki scale their numbers, they may find that the increase is not exponential.
1 www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h6505/rr
2 Goodman NW. From Shakespeare to Star Trek and beyond: a Medline search for literary and other allusions in biomedical titles. BMJ 2005;331:1540-2
Competing interests: I have published similar articles.
It’s very exciting to learn just how much Dylan’s lyrics have penetrated the biomedical literature – an excellent indication of the enormous impact he’s had on all of our lives. Quoting, or manipulating, the titles of his songs or lyrics is one thing, but why stop at that? How about re-writing his songs to illustrate key scientific concepts? Not only is this fun but it could be an effective aide-memoire for students. To start the ball rolling here is my offering - “Microbiota Row” - a description of the indigenous microbiota of humans to the tune of one of his greatest songs “Desolation Row”. This was first published in the preface of a book “Bacteriology of humans”(1) which features lots of other Dylan quotes and is also on display as part of the Eden Project’s “Human Microbiome” Exhibition (2).
Microbiota Row
The eyes have a microbiota
That’s very sparse indeed
A few Gram-positive cocci
Scavenge from tears all that they need.
The skin has a denser population
P. acnes is plentifully found
While coryneforms and staphylococci
Are invariably around.
But molecular tools have shown us
There’s much more still to know
About the microbes that live upon us
And even help us grow.
The respiratory tract is moist and inviting
With food aplenty there
But of the mucociliary escalator
All microbes must beware.
Yet haemophili and streptococci
And Neisseria can survive
While Mollicutes and Moraxella
Can there be found alive.
But there are pathogens among them
Most deadly, that’s for sure
Armed with many a deadly toxin
To bring us to death’s door
Inside the terminal urethra
Staphylococci hold on tight
But most of the urinary tract is sterile
Thanks to innate immunity’s might.
A male’s reproductive system is arid
But with microbes a female’s abounds
With lactobacilli and other genera
Their variety astounds.
But hormones have a great effect
On which microbes there can grow
And their relative proportions
Change as time’s stream does flow.
From the mouth down to the rectum
The intestinal tract unwinds
Producing ecosystems so complex
And microbiotas of many kinds.
The oral cavity is aswarming
With 800 taxa there
While the hostile, acidic stomach
Apart from H. pylori is almost bare.
The small intestine is nearly sterile
But the colon is replete
With almost a thousand species
And without them we’re incomplete.
Yes, I know you think they’re nasty
Those minutest forms of life
Your mother said that they were dirty
And would only cause you strife.
But they’re essential for your survival
Believe this you really must,
They digest our food and guard us from
Pathogens that would make us dust.
Our residential microbes
Play a beneficial role, so please
Don’t disturb or try to remove them
The result would be disease.
1. “Bacteriology of Humans: An Ecological Perspective”. Michael Wilson. ISBN: 978-1-4051-6165-7. 2008, Wiley-Blackwell
2. “Invisible You – the Human Microbiome Exhibition. https://www.edenproject.com/visit/whats-here/invisible-you-the-human-mic...
Competing interests: No competing interests
Congratulations to the medics squeezing in Bob Dylan songs into their papers, and those involved in subsequent analysis. Medical scientists are not the only Bob Dylan fans with a sense of humour – meteorologists and climate impact scientists are too (e.g. Robock, 2005; Epstein, 2011; Brown et al. 2015). To our knowledge, Bob Dylan has sung the greatest number of weather-related songs of any artist.
We recently wrote a paper on this (Brown et al. 2015). Night After Night, we checked Dylan’s songs for weather-related references, finding all the Odds and Ends. Lo and Behold there were 163 songs! Weather references were often clustered (most often wind and sun), but there was little direct evidence of him being influenced by specific weather events. Can’t Wait to find out more? See our list http://bit.ly/1IfrtoL. If it’s not too much Trouble, Tell Me of any more you find, by adding them on the spread sheet.
We are not about to count medical references – that would be a lot of Trouble! But we are sure for the medics, this is not the End of the Line.
References:
Brown S, Aplin KL, Jenkins K, Mander S, Walsh C and Williams PD, 2015. Is there a rhythm of the rain? An analysis of weather in popular music. Weather, 70(7), 198-204. doi:10.1002/wea.2464
Epstein, DM. 2011. The Ballad of Bob Dylan: A Portrait. Harper: London.
Gornitzki C, Larsson A, Fadeel B, 2015. Freewheelin’ scientists: citing Bob Dylan in the biomedical literature. BMJ 351:h6505
Robock A, 2005. “Tonight as I stand inside the rain”: Bob Dylan and weather imagery. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 86(4), 483–487. doi:10.1175/BAMS-86-4-483
Competing interests: Authors of Brown et al. (2015). Is there a rhythm of the rain? An analysis of weather in popular music.
Strawberry fields gets you 66 hits on PubMed. During the next pre-Christmas season I will make a comparative analysis of Dylan vs Beatles in the biomedical literature. Get sick, get well, hang around an inkwell (Subterrenean homesick blues).
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Freewheelin’ scientists: citing Bob Dylan in the biomedical literature
"Well, the world of research has gone berserk
(Too much paperwork)"
Bob Dylan
"Nettie Moore", Modern Times (2006)
Competing interests: No competing interests