A group of Swedish scientists with a lot of time on their hands have spent the last 17 years competing to see who can sneak the most Bob Dylan lyrics into their research papers.

The competition apparently began when two scientists published a paper about flatulence titled "Nitric Oxide and inflammation: The answer is blowing in the wind."

A few years later, a very well-read librarian spotted a second Dylan-themed paper and introduced the two teams. The competition eventually expanded to include five scientists.

But there's no reason to get excited, the scientists kindly spoke in an interview with The Local.

"We're not talking about scientific papers - we could have got in trouble for that - but rather articles we have written about research by others, book introductions, editorials and things like that," Eddie Weitzberg told The Local, probably adding, "Don't think twice, it's alright."

They expect to be released from the bet any day now, saying it's all over when one of them retires. The other scientists will reportedly be lonesome when he goes, but the top quoter will win—by a simple twist of fate—bragging rights and a free lunch.

[h/t Metro UK, image via AP]