The phrase "applying a principle of" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when discussing the implementation or use of a specific principle in a particular context or situation.
Example: "In this study, we are applying a principle of sustainability to evaluate the environmental impact of our project."
Alternatives: "utilizing a principle of" or "employing a principle of".
"We are applying a principle of strict reciprocity," said the Indian government official.
By applying a principle of solid oxide fuel cell system, a membrane reactor for selective oxidation has been designed.
This study revisits generic concepts of information granules and Granular Computing in this setting and elaborates on a fundamental way of forming information granules (both sets – intervals as well as fuzzy sets) through applying a principle of justifiable granularity.
These were then mapped to Andersen's theoretical framework, applying a principle of the 'closest fit'.
His justification for this was that one only judges that other human beings are thinking by external observation, and he applied a principle of 'fair play for machines' to argue that the same should hold for machine intelligence.
We must keep in mind that in Spain, as a general rule, it is not possible to apply a principle of limited liability to the debtor (that is, legally release the debtor from its debts, fully or partially, when it cannot pay).
It is like trying to apply a principle of family law to a commercial transaction or employment relationship -- such as trying to sue one's employer for alimony (a family law concept) after being fired, because doing so might, if it actually worked, lead to more money than severance pay (an employment law concept).
The state's supreme court has cited that stewardship role and applied a principle of preemptive precaution against actions that could reasonably be expected to degrade the state's natural resources.
Again, this is applying a principle based on the path of least resistance.
For all the cons, scams and grifts that Swain works into his plot (he even explains how to rig a party game by applying a math principle of progressive calculation), he never neglects character.
However, it is possible to overcome these problems by applying a basic principle of population genetics: demographic events affect the whole genome, whereas natural selection acts more locally and is restricted to particular genomic regions.
