All UGC-funded tertiary institutions are required to take part in a periodic Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), conducted by the University Grants Committee (UGC). The aim of the RAE, in the UGC's words, is "to provide an updated assessment of institutional research activity and capability to differentiate between outstanding research and the merely good, so that first class research is properly funded".

The preparation work for the RAE 2014 has commenced since October 2012. There is a total of 11 cost centres under the Faculty of Arts. With the endeavour and effort of each cost centre, the Faulty has submitted the required documents by the respective deadlines as set out by the University. Around 500 research output items were submitted.

The RAE submission templates, along with the full texts of research outputs and other relevant documents, were submitted to the UGC's online submission system on 12 December 2013. The RAE physical submissions were delivered to the UGC's office on 16 December 2013.