I have recently found myself in the position of questioning whether a paper is actually the work of the student who submitted it, and I am looking for guidance on what to do.
 
The student in question failed the mid-term essay exam by a wide margin and, two weeks later, turned in a paper that was slightly off-topic but showed an outstanding degree organization, command of the subject matter and writing style.  It was one of the most sophisticated treatments of a subject I have seen in a student paper.  Aside from my general concern that the paper didn't seem to be even remotely consistent with the student's previous work, I had some specific concerns:
 
--The 4 or 5 instances of quoted material in the paper were attributed to two websites.  I checked (but did not scour) the websites, and did not find the quotes.  I have asked the student to show me the original material from which the quotes were taken.
 
--I found two phrases in the paper that were taken directly from our textbook, without attribution.
 
--The material that does not appear in quotation marks--which is most of the text in the paper--does not seem at all consistent with the student's prior work in this class.
 
--The student says he had "editing help" from his girlfriend and pointed out that I had encouraged students to get editing assistance from the Writing Center.
 
My questions:
 
Are there any general guidelines for when a professor should attempt to verify the authenticity of a student paper?
 
How can professors possibly verify that papers are actually the work of a student who submitted them?  After all, students who are inclined to cheat have the entire internet at their disposal!  (In this regard, here is a summary of a recent NYT article re: a proposal to verify suspiciously good college application essays by cross referencing them to the student's SAT essay:  http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/members/pastissue2.tmpl?issueid=11/7/2005#1107052338576 <http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/members/pastissue2.tmpl?issueid=11/7/2005#1107052338576> )
 
Who has the burden of proof when it comes to the question of whether a paper is the work of the student who submitted it?
 
Where is the line between getting aggressive editorial assistance on the one hand, and turning in a paper that is substantially someone else's work product on the other?
 
Thanks.
 
Dave
 
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