The phrase "explained by reference to" is grammatically correct and can be used in written English.
It is typically used when providing a further explanation or clarification of something that has been previously mentioned. Example: The complexity of the concept of time can be explained by reference to our changing perceptions and experiences as we grow and age.
This somewhat surprising fact may be explained by reference to the historical development already traced here.
The principle behind network coding is often explained by reference to a so-called butterfly network.
National secession has been explained by reference to identities, grievances, greed, and opportunities.
Some of the findings can be explained by reference to research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
The trends obtained are explained by reference to a macrostructural and microstructural characterization of the joints.
Other new institutionalists eschew deductive models in which outcomes are explained by reference to rational actions.
The author investigates this by poising transparent paper patterns of a set of cross-sections and, after setting out Bouquer's law of balance with slight modifications, explains, by reference to the characteristics of some thirty-six vessels of which diagrams are given, the rules he has formulated.
However, to date there has been little agreement on several aspects of the combined use of processes, which the literature often explains by reference to the practitioner's legal culture, and there is debate as to how appropriate it is for the same neutral to conduct both mediation and arbitration.
Previous sections have sought to explain, by reference to 'constants' and 'variables' within a generalised legal infrastructure, why further debate about the disputed factual detail of the L'Aquila trial is unnecessary in the context considered here.
She is open to science but experience tells her some things cannot, yet, be explained by reference only to neurotransmitters and hemispheres.
In particular, "religion can never be explained simply by reference to prior material conditions".
