The phrase "appears to reference" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when indicating that something seems to allude to or mention another subject or source.
Example: "The article appears to reference several studies on climate change."
Alternatives: "seems to allude to" or "appears to cite".
Rather cheeringly, neither song appears to reference the events of February at all.
But in the context of the earlier questions leading up to that question, she appears to reference her husband's political opponents, not Lewinsky or any other woman.
Now a new trailer for Paul Feig's Ghostbusters appears to reference some of the criticisms levelled at the film, as well as offering up our first proper look at Chris Hemsworth's receptionist, Kevin.
As the age old saying goes - sex sells, but it seems not everyone has been blown away by a new advert for e-cigarettes which appears to reference oral sex.
Spyce bills itself as "the world's first restaurant featuring a robotic kitchen that cooks complex meals," a distinction that appears to reference burger-flipping robots like "Flippy," who plied his trade in a California fast food kitchen before being temporary suspended — because he wasn't working fast enough.
Snopes, the fact-checking site, explains that the hoax appears to reference fears about "cloned" Facebook accounts, where would-be scammers copy the name, profile picture, and basic information from a real account to create a second, nearly identical account on Facebook.
Silver appeared to reference Donald Sterling's contentious court testimony last week, when the owner referred to his wife as a "pig" and opposing attorney Bert Fields as a "smartass".
"Justification can be created," one voice says in the recording, appearing to reference a "false flag" attack.
He threatened to ban Facebook and briefly banned Twitter, the latter after people posted wiretaps of conversations that appeared to reference corrupt activities.
