When one uses the word research transitively, the subject of the research is normally used as the object of the verb research (e.g. He researched the effects of acid rain for nearly a decade). Another common usage is having the target publication or presenting channel as the object of the verb research (e.g. She research a magazine article). (Note: I've consulted a few dictionaries for these usages.)
However, I found a small number of the usage researched X where the author actually means checked with X, or consulted X, or studied X, in order to answer Y where Y is the subject of the research.
For example, Google gave me these results when I searched for "researched several references",
"I researched several references that discuss the education, socialization and schooling of Native Americans in Minnesota."
"Students researched several references and gathered information regarding the environmental impact of their proposed airplane designs."
"I have researched several references and I know what the fair market value for a similar veh(icle) is."
This made me wonder... if the usage of 'researched X' where X is the source of references used in the research, not the subject of the research, considered a good usage?