The phrase "a mere reference" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to indicate that something is only a simple or insignificant mention of a topic or idea.
Example: "In his essay, the author made a mere reference to the historical context, failing to elaborate on its significance."
Alternatives: "a simple mention" or "just a reference".
At the center of all this activity, less than a direct source but more than a mere reference — and largely invisible — was Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968).
In short, at least some of what we see at the Chelsea Art Museum is a mere reference to more expansive and hard-to-package projects and careers, and these I plan to follow with particular attention.
It is plain that the provision cannot be applied by a mere reference to percentages, and the fact that petiioner's sales in interstate and foreign commerce amounted to 37 per cent., and not to more than 50 per cent., of its production cannot be deemed controlling.
Following the philosophy of Britannica chairman, Mortimer Adler, Stewart and the rest of the editorial staff at Britannica sought to expand the reach of the work beyond a mere reference book to a systematic categorization of omne scibile (everything knowable).
Since OECD Guideline 408 [18] in contrast to the more recent OECD guidelines does not provide clear objectives, it is doubtful whether a mere reference to this guideline as provided by Monsanto suffices EFSA's new standards on study objectives.
The inclusion criteria were frequently poorly described, and in some cases were limited to a mere reference to geographic origin (Baranowska 1995; Karp and Robertson 1977; Schramel et al. 1988).
But mere reference to a provision of the federal Constitution, or the mere assertion of a claim under it, does not authorize this court to review a criminal proceeding; and it is our duty to decline jurisdiction unless the writ of error presents a constitutional question substantial in character and properly raised below.
However, as Scott de Martinville's invention has, in time, become a mere historical reference point, the internet is still developing and changing, which means the world is still learning to develop and change with it.
His definition explicitly grants a role to the legal dimension of RRI, complementing the mere reference to the normative orientation of innovation.
But these massacres deserve to be more than mere reference points, if only to underscore the protracted inaction of Congress to respond — an inaction that, judging by the Capitol Hill partisanship on display Thursday, seems concretized.
The first is that mere reference to fundamental rights and to the Charter does not alter the fact that the European arrest warrant in practice undermines such rights, as indeed has been argued by a number of NGOs and by dissenting voices within the European Parliamentary debate.
