Referring to as “improving” (7,2)
I believe the answer is:
looking up
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'referring to' is the first definition.
('look up' can be a synonym of 'refer to')
'improving' is the second definition.
(I've seen this before)
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for looking up that I've seen before include "How those lying see things" , "using a reference book?" , "What is a star-gazer doing" , "Improving" .)