AJAX Returning PHP and head.php (page source)

I have some ajax here:

$.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    url: "<?=site_url('front_office/get_email_list/')?>",
    dataType: "text",
    success: function(response) {
        console.log(response)
    }
});

For some reason, this code returns the desired PHP but it also returns my head.php file.

function get_email_list() {
    $center_ids = array(
        /* list of user ids */
    );
    print_r(json_encode($this->user_model->get_email_list($center_ids)));
     /* get_email_list($center_ids)) returns a database query result */
}

And finally, my head.php contains your usual <head> tags with javascript and css imports.

Output looks something like:

**** return from php *****<head>header stuff</head>

I'd rather not parse out the header information but instead just get the PHP output.

Note: I am using codeiginiter and I am calling a function within the front_office controller.

Second note: I know I am not posting anything at the moment, but I will be soon. I tried GET but the problem persists.

Solution

You are returning the view, check request, if it is not ajax, load view, otherwise return json encoded result to your ajax request.

if (!$this->input->is_ajax_request()) {
   // load view      
}else{
    // Adding header, so jQuery ajax request will know that it is json
    // and result will be parsed immediately
   $this->output->set_content_type('application/json');
   $this->output->set_output(json_encode($email_list_result));
}

More about returning JSON at: Returning JSON from a PHP Script

Also, check if you are loading head.php in constructor method ? Please, post whole code from controller.