I have an interesting theoretical model and I'm working on an empirical section to test it. The testing is preliminary right now but it doesn't seem to support the theory. Together it seems ridiculous to propose the theory and then dismiss it later in the paper.
Is it unethical to try to publish the theory now, continue to work on the empirics, and then publish an empirical follow up that suggests my original theory was no good?
It seems unethical but filedrawering a paper I know won't get published also seems unethical.
