Ending its six-year prosecution of an Ohio State chemistry professor charged with plagiarism, OSU has put limits on the professor’s research.Chemistry professor Leo Paquette was accused of plagiarizing material from a National Science Foundation grant proposal in an article he wrote for the Journal of the American Chemistry Society in April 1992.Paquette and OSU settled in September.Under the settlement, Paquette’s laboratory group, which consists of graduate and post-doctoral students, is limited to around 25 people over the next three years. The group included 40 students at the end of summer quarter 1997, and the group included 29 students at the end of summer quarter 1998. The cap on Paquette’s group was recommended by the department of chemistry’s graduate studies committee in a letter to Richard Sisson, then provost of the university, in January 1994. The limit on the size of Paquette’s research group would serve two purposes, the 1994 letter said. First, the limit addresses overworking the professor, which the committee believed caused Paquette’s misconduct, thus reducing the possibility of repeat offenses. Second, it sends a message to the profession that the Department of Chemistry does not condone plagiarism, despite the circumstances.”It’s going to hurt the students,” Paquette said, referring to the cap.He said it would hurt the students working with him and those who would like to work with him.”Research is labor intensive. The more hands and more brains you have the better,” Paquette said.He said he expects his output to be decreased by two-thirds because of these sanctions.In the 1994 letter, the graduate studies committee said, “The GSC believes that Dr. Paquette’s actions were a result of carelessness and haste. This is most likely a direct result of Dr. Paquette’s mentoring of a very large group of students and of self-imposed pressure to rapidly publish the results of their work.”Under the settlement, no current members of Paquette’s research group will be forced out. This limit, which became effective Oct. 1, means that new students, who haven’t received offers yet, will not be allowed into the group unless the group’s number drops under 25.At the end of three years, Paquette will come under review to see if any further sanctions should be taken, said interim provost Edward Ray.”The events were tragic. It was a nightmare,” said Matthew Platz, chair of the Department of Chemistry. “I’m glad this nightmare has come to an end.”Others are also glad the long ordeal is over.”It’s nice to be at this point and be able to look ahead and put this behind us,” said Robert Gold, dean of the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.Paquette said energy and money were also contributing reasons to the settlement.”You get tired after a while,” he said. “It’s cost me over $100,000 already.”OSU had the option to start disciplinary hearings to determine Paquette’s punishment, ranging from reprimand to demotion to dismissal. Instead, Ray said OSU waited for the outcome of the National Science Foundation’s own case against Paquette before they took any further action.In the January settlement of the foundation’s case, Paquette was denied federal research funding, and prohibited for two years from serving as a peer reviewer, panelist, or a member of a Committee of Visitors. Paquette, who has been at OSU since 1963, was recognized four times by OSU for academic excellence. He is one of only three professors at the university to be selected for membership in the National Academy of Science.In a 1991 case, Paquette was disciplined by the university and the National Institutes of Health for plagiarizing material he was reviewing for the institutes.