imitating the layout or basic whitepaper in my opinion is okay because all whitepapers are on average the same in the same order as whitepaper. what distinguishes them is how the content in the whitepaper, this should not be plagiarized, they must be purely written based on their own project.
Imitation is in no way an ok subject. It is stealing someone's idea, design, or art. What it is there to imitate on the layout when the layout is a simple task to do. If a project cannot create its own layout then what more on the more complicated matter?
whitepaper of any project reefers, it contains pros & cons, all information regarding that project. If two project have same idea and goal, then let them explain them with their own words. How could anyone trust a project who refuse to write their own whitepaper while they have long to go! If they represent themselves as weak, lazy, unprofessional team, then that sign of scammer. So better avoid them
Whitepaper isn't a review thing. It contains not the pros and cons but rather the detail on how the project will proceed. It contains a road map, definition, idea, the problem it will tackle, the innovation, the team, the glossary, and many more.
IMO, it is not absolute that copied or partly copied website of a project is a scam, however, it is an indicator that can make us to raise eye brows and become more suspicious and at alert. Basically, in my observation, most scammers want to act fast and are impatient, so they are not likely to exercise patience to make a proper preparation of documents like whitepaper, so there are chances of copying/plagiarizing.
The whitepaper can be an indicator of how viable a project can be and presents opportunity for constructive criticism. It s an important tool to access a project and can indicate the intention of a project when viewed objectively.
Isn't it already scamming when they plagiarized the content of their whitepaper? They already stole the idea of the original writer and selling it to the investors. Isn't selling other idea without the person's content already a fraud?