I recently read an article in a jewish publication that was almost identical to one that is published online on a secular site. The secular article pre-dates the jewish publication by at least a year, possibly more. The jewish publication did not cite the secular web site as a source for their article. Do I have any responsibility to inform the editor of what appears to be plagiarism or can I ignore this?
Answer:
The question is what is there to be gained by this, it may very well cause a loss and perhaps loss of a job to the author, it is certainly not our job to punish him for his plagiarism. There is a mitzvah to rebuke him for what he did, in a way that he will be receptive, the first step would then be to contact the author, not the editor, and point out his error. If he is unresponsive and his actions are causing damage or loss to others, this may warrant publicizing his behavior.
