The small plates were written by two primary authors, Nephi and Jacob, with large quotes from Isaiah. When we begin Mosiah the book speaks in the third person, for this is now Mormon’s abridgement. Authors have different styles of writing. This is called wordprint or stylometry—a concept unknown to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Note the following:
John L. Hilton [leader of a group of scientists in Berkeley, California] approaches texts quite differently, letting his computer do the analysis by counting and comparing selected words in defined relationships. It has been demonstrated elsewhere that individual authors leave a unique stamp or wordprint on their writings that can usually be detected through this kind of analysis. On the basis of this finding, Hilton asserts that neither Joseph Smith nor any of the other candidates for authorship of the book set forward by critics could have written the Book of Mormon. Their wordprints are closer to each other than to any part of the book. Furthermore, the parts of the book that claim to be authored by different prophets do in fact have distinguishable wordprints. Statistical analysis of the text confirms Joseph Smith’s explanation of the book’s origins. (Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins [Provo: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1997]; compare Echoes, 132–135)