<p>The objective of this study is to review the author/submission guidelines of dental journals and assess their plagiarism policies. A questionnaire based on seven variables was used to extract plagiarism-checking guidelines from the author/submission guidelines of the 50 dental journals subjected to scrutiny. Author/submission guidelines of two journals named the software used for assessing the similarity index; and the scope of plagiarism detection was reported in 4% of the author/submission guidelines. Exemptions pertaining to plagiarism checks were briefly addressed in 2% of the author/submission guidelines evaluated. None of the author/submission guidelines addressed all the variables presented in the questionnaire. The present study reveals a concerning lack of uniformity and specificity in how dental journals address it within their submission guidelines. The present study showed that only a small fraction of dental journals transparently disclose the tools they employ, define thresholds for acceptable similarity, or provide exemptions for commonly repeated sections such as acknowledgments, references, or ethical approvals. It is suggested that journal editors and publishers consider developing and adopting standardized anti-plagiarism frameworks that acknowledge both the limitations of text-matching tools and the practical constraints inherent in scientific writing.</p>