Article in study for head of college (4)
I believe the answer is:
dean
'head of college' is the definition.
(dean can mean the head of a college)
'article in study' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'a' (the indefinite article in English).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'study' becomes 'den' (term for a study or office).
'a' placed within 'den' is 'DEAN'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for dean that I've seen before include "Clergyman; narrow valley" , "Torvill's ice dancing partner" , "James ..., film actor" , "College officer" , "Cathedral chapter head" .)