Hi,
As far as I know, the phrase "with reference to" has the same meaning with the phrase "with regard to" or "in respect of". Can someone confirm this point for me? Yes, although 'with respect to' would be more common. With regard to style, these expressions are often used as business English 'jargon' in places where I think simplicity would be better. eg I am writing 'with reference to your last letter' could be 'I am writing about your last letter'
my second question: I see some people write "by reference to". but i cannot find it in my oxford dictionary. I assume that this "by reference to" is what i usually put as "by referring to". for example: Tom said that he wrote a research report by referring to/by reference to some articles collected on the internet, but i know that he wasn't referring to these articles, he simply made copies of these articles here and there and put them together, and therefore i would rather say he plagiarized an report.
can someone confirm or correct my understanding of the usage of "by reference to". Yes, I agree with you.
Best wishes, Clive