The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 plus 4 letter word COMMONPLACE BOOK
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
O
M
M
O
N
P
L
A
C
E
B
O
O
K
More clues leading to the result COMMONPLACE BOOK
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "cuttings collection" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cuttings collection = commonplace book.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.