Should I refer to "Section 2.3" or "Subsection 2.3"?

Question

When writing a document that is divided into numbered sections and subsections, sometimes I would like to refer a certain subsection that has been numbered 2.3, for example. Here the 2 represents the section number and 3 is the subsection number within section 2. **Question**: Should I refer to "Section 2.3" or "Subsection 2.3"? To me, the latter seems tautological (or at least not completely necessary) since the "sub-" component of "subsection" is implied by the number 2.3 itself.

Answer 1

"Refer to Section 2.3" is correct and actually more clear in this case, because 2 is the primary section. "Subsection 2.3" is not clear for your purpose - although this word indicates that 3 is a subsection of 2, it also is saying that "2 is a subsection of a different primary section".

For example:

Section A (primary section)

Subsection 2.3 (sub-section)

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Joey