Is it plagiarism to copy the form and structure of an article? As an undergraduate student, I wrote a science paper. Because I was learning to write, I used the form and structure of a paper on a completely different topic; in fact, it was a slightly different discipline all together. So my paper has a similar layout, transitions, and structure as said paper, though the information, content, subject matter, and topic are different.

Is this plagiarism? I later contacted the original author, upon discovering the similarities, and he said that it was okay, that he learned the form from others, and that I should go on with life.
You've done nothing wrong; most manuscripts follow the same structure.

Consider the following recommendations for structure: (1) Introduction, (2) Materials and Methods, (3) Results, and (4) Discussion. Would it be wrong to adopt that structure? No. It's a very common style and is widely adopted.



The OP added:


  It's not just the [structure] that I followed, but the language - i.e. transition words. 


Transition words, e.g., https://msu.edu/~jdowell/135/transw.html, are standard, so they shouldn't create an issue.


  The order of the introduction is the same, for example. 


That's just a different form of structural issue, hence, this isn't a problem.


  I said why the world needs the paper in a similar language even though there was two totally different topics and subject matters.


Such a style is advocated by many, e.g., Simon Peyton Jones, so that shouldn't create an issue.



Note: Without seeing the texts, we cannot comment on specific issues.