More journalists accuse MailOnline of plagiarism

On 1 September, Press Trust of India correspondent Rezaul Hasan Laskar tweeted:

And:

The version of the article that appeared on MailOnline was a word-for-word copy of the original - but with a 'Mail Today Reporter' byline.

A few days later, an update:

And:

A similar 'error' occurred a few days ago.

On 25 August, OPEN Magazine in India published an article by Lhendup G Bhutia about a:

four-year-old who went missing in a jungle and returned 38 years later.

A couple of weeks later, a version of the story was published by MailOnline. Several days after, OPEN accused the Mail of plagiarism:

We are surprised to find that UK’s Daily Mail has carried a similar story, plagiarising portions of OPEN’s feature. Here, we present only the portions of the Daily Mail story that are direct lifts, ignoring those parts that have been more efficiently rephrased.

And they give examples:

WHAT APPEARED IN OPEN

She keeps her new possessions by a window. A bottle of metallic green nail polish, a plastic comb, tubes of moisturisers and fairness cream, and a maroon lipstick—all gifted by women in the village. When she wakes up every morning, she scrubs her face with cream, paints her nails—regardless of any grime underneath—and combs her long hair, which she has taken to tying with a hair band.

WHAT APPEARED IN DAILY MAIL

She keeps her gifts from her neighbours by a window - a bottle of metallic green nail polish, a plastic comb, tubes of moisturiser and lipstick.

When she wakes up every morning she scrubs her face with cream, paints her nails and combs her long hair, which she has taken to tying with a hair band.

+++

WHAT APPEARED IN OPEN

Surprisingly, for someone believed to have lived in a forest away from human habitation and bereft of any social skills, Chhaidy is not shy of human interaction, although her expressions of fondness are childlike.

WHAT APPEARED IN DAILY MAIL

Surprisingly, for someone believed to have lived in a forest away from human habitation for 40 years, Chhaidy is not shy of human interaction, although she is very childlike.

+++

WHAT APPEARED IN OPEN

Chhaidy, on the other hand, has received no medical or psychological attention. She spends her days moving from home to home, playing with anyone, young or old, who seems interested.

WHAT APPEARED IN DAILY MAIL

Since then she has received no medical or psychological attention. And she spends her days moving from neighbour to neighbour, playing with anyone, young or old.

And so on. There is no mention of OPEN in the Mail's article. 

MailOnline, overseen by Martin Clarke, was named newspaper website of the year earlier this year.