Core-shell polymer coated superparamagnetic nanoparticles are critical tools in bio-nanotechnology, in which the soft and thin polymeric coatings play a key role in their stabilization, surface functionality and biocompatibility. Standard characterization tools, such as Transmission Electron Microscopy are indispensable for the morphological characterization of the metal-containing core but they cannot clearly discriminate between core and shell components. Dynamic Light Scattering can only overestimate the shell thickness by measuring the particle hydrodynamic diameter. Here, we describe Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering as tools to study poly (acrylic) acid coated gamma iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles dispersed in aqueous medium. Our results show that Small Angle Scattering techniques offers in situ and sensitive measurements of the "stealth" polymer coatings which cannot be accurately detected by other techniques. The Small Angle Scattering approach presented in this work is applicable for analysis of core-shell organic/inorganic hybrid nanoparticles systems for a broad range of applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.