Macho man leaving academic research unfinished (4)
I believe the answer is:
stud
'macho man' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'research unfinished' is the wordplay.
'research' becomes 'study'.
'unfinished' means to remove the last letter.
'study' with its last letter taken off is 'STUD'.
'leaving academic' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stud that I've seen before include "Small piece of jewellery" , "Playboy" , "Male horse kept for breeding" , "Lothario" , "Ladies' man?" .)