A new study in PLOS ONE reveals that The Beatles are the most referenced band in scientific literature, with over 3,000 citations of their song titles and lyrics. Researchers found clever wordplay like 'The lung and winding road' in a COVID paper and 'Here comes the SU(N)' in quantum computing. The study, led by Gabriel Budel of Delft University, analyzed academic databases and found that 'The Long and Winding Road' was the most cited song, appearing 798 times.

This playful trend follows earlier findings of Bob Dylan and The Clash references in science, showing a tradition of pop culture nods in academic writing.