That helps - are you trying to create a traditional or collection project? I think collection project is probably the better option here, but the interfaces are a little different.
I think that you do need to be an admin of a project to duplicate. It only works for collection projects though: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/duplicate-a-project/5462/3
Your best bet might be to contact an admin on the project you are interested in, see if they will duplicate for you, change the title, and then make you an admin on the new project so you can alter it as you want.